Seafish getting back on track

Less than a week the United Kingdom’s Supreme Court sided with Seafish (the Sea Fish Industry Authority) in a case involving uncollected duties on imported seafood, the Edinburgh-based organization is retuning to full capacity.

Last week’s ruling overturned a Court of Appeals decision in March 2010 in favor of British Seafood Group, which brought the lawsuit in late 2008, contesting its requirement to pay duties on the seafood it imported. The ruling had forced Seafish to put services and projects on hold.

On Tuesday, Seafish CEO Dr. Paul Williams said the organization’s priority is pay its creditors and re-build its cash reserves, then it will focus on communication and promotion as its income stabilizes.

“The Seafish board will also be looking at the projects which have been reviewed and approved for funding from our Industry Project Fund. This fund, of approximately GBP 1 million per year, goes to support projects put forward by industry in a whole variety of seafood related areas,” said Williams.

“Seafish provided GBP 4 million of value to industry over the last year despite our income dropping to GBP 2 million after the Court of Appeal decision, which inevitably affected our activities,” he continued. “We are keen to continue to build on this in the next few months as our plans come together.” 

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