Up to £1m is being made available to the local fishing industry from the EU in the form of grants from the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund.

The cash is intended for projects that support the local fishery and follows on from a previous round of funding called Fisheries Local Action Groups or FLAG 1 that also funded around £1m of local fishery projects including a fish smoker and new safety equipment on fishing boats.

This second round of funding called – not surprisingly – FLAG 2 has seen around a quarter of a million pounds worth of projects approved so far.

Those are:

• A replacement ice maker for Hastings Fish Market
• A research project on supporting sustainable cuttlefish stocks
• Aspiring Chef’s Academy, to train local students in fish cookery
• An additional net flaker
• Boat repairs and health and safety equipment for boats
• Developing a Hastings Fish brand.

Projects in the pipeline include

• Winch hut improvements
• Mini Digger for levelling shingle
• Replacement vehicle barriers (at rear of Stade Open Space, to Lifeboat Station)
• Fish market improvements
• New CCTV and LED lighting
• Collaborative Health and Safety training and equipment
• Additional bulldozers for shingle clearance
• Hastings Fishing Fleet history project
• Improvements to Rock-a-Nore car park