Fish market approved!

Years of work spent on creating the opportunity to deveop the port appear to have paid off for Newlyn as ambitious plans to modernise the ageing fish market have been approved by the MFA.

£5.25 million in grants has been awarded to the English fishing industry from the European Fisheries Fund.

The largest single grant was £2.3 million for a new fish market in Newlyn, Cornwall. It is subject to assurances from the new Newlyn Harbour Commissioners who are expected to be appointed before Easter.

The new Harbour Commissioners will need to provide assurances that they are content with the project – particularly the match funding required.

Cornwall's daily paper, the Western Morning News ran a rather negative article on the approval - citing uncertainty in the future of the port and a lack of support from some catchers. Given the multi-million pound spend on Brixham fish market it is hard to see the logic behing creating a 'central' fish handling facility for the South West given the recent investment and support for Brixham and Plymouth fish markets.

The full press release from the MFA is available here.