The Seafood Innovation Fund (SIF) was a research and development (R&D) fund that launched in July 2019 and ended in March 2025. The SIF programme was part of the UK Seafood Fund under the Science and Innovation pillar.
Watch our SIF legacy video below.
The fund was administered by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
The fund supported projects, ideas and technologies that aimed to disrupt the seafood sector. Disruptive innovation is when the application of the technology or idea has a significant impact on the industry or the market.
Projects considered these priorities:
To reduce the environmental impact of seafood.
Technologies to bring the industry into the 21st century.
Ensuring seafood security for years to come.
Creating new partnerships across
the seafood & tech sectors
Strengthening the evidence base for
sustainable management.
To improve future certainty for
seafood business.
Shellfish are a sustainable and low carbon food supply essential to the UK economy and many rural communities. However, the industry is frequently...
East Coast Innovation (ECI) developed a purpose-built fish loading device aimed at improving fish welfare by minimising biomass density, thereby reducing stress and...
Sustainable Feeds Ltd in collaboration with Pennotec (Pennog Ltd) have been highly successful in processing aquaculture wastes and fish processing by-products using chitosan-based...
Our short film series explores what innovation means to the UK Seafood Innovation Fund.