The U.S. state of Virginia has awarded USD 247,000 (EUR 228,672) to Amory Seafood to increase its processing capacity for invasive blue catfish.
“Once complete, this expansion will enhance our processing capacity, and improve quality and marketability of our products,” Amory Seafood CEO Meade Amory said in a statement. “We will also be in a better position to support local watermen and reduce the number of invasive blue catfish, which helps to protect native Chesapeake Bay species.”
The Hampton, Virginia, U.S.A.-based seafood processor and distributor has been in operations for more than 100 years, but the company only began processing blue catfish a decade ago.
Amory Seafood will use the funding to expand and modernize its facility with a quick freezer and packaging equipment. The expansion will enable the processor to purchase more locally caught blue catfish, according to Viginia Governor Glenn Youngkin.
“I congratulate Amory Seafood on this expansion, as this project helps to increase processing capacity of the invasive blue catfish, provide additional market opportunities for Virginia watermen, and boost the Commonwealth’s seafood industry’s economic impact, which was over USD 1.1 billion in 2019,” Youngkin said in a statement.
Virginia established the Governor’s Blue Catfish Processing, Flash Freezing, and Infrastructure Grant Program last year, giving the governor the authority to distribute grants of up to USD 250,000 (EUR 231,457) to improve blue catfish processing and freezing capacity. Both Virginia and Maryland been trying to incentivize fishers to catch more blue catfish, an invasive species that has been damaging local ecosystems in Chesapeake Bay for years.
“This award not only benefits Amory Seafood, but also the city of Hampton, and the local watermen who currently limit their catches due to limited processing availability,” Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Matt Lohr said. “I am pleased that we were able to partner on this expansion project with this innovative grant funding to help improve the health of Virginia waterways by incentivizing the fishing of an invasive species.”
This is the second grant issued by Governor Youngkin; the first was awarded to Virginia-based seafood processor Sea Farms in January.
