Scottish investments totalling £50,000 (57,884.11) will go towards promoting the increased participation of women in the aquaculture sector.
The Scottish government will provide £20,000 of the funding, with the remaining £30,000 to be drawn from industry sponsorship. The investments will go towards supporting Women in Scottish Aquaculture (WiSA), a collaborative working group launched by the Scottish Aquaculture Innovation Centre earlier this year, which aims to bring more women into the sector and support female employees already working in the industry.
Heather Jones, CEO of the Scottish Aquaculture Innovation Centre (SAIC), said: I am passionate about supporting and promoting the role of women in Scottish aquaculture. I believe it is a vital step in helping the industry to grow. It’s been fantastic to secure financial support for this initiative from both the Scottish government and the aquaculture industry in Scotland. The resources announced today will allow us to build capacity, confidence and capability amongst women working in Scottish aquaculture.
The funding will go towards establishing a mentoring scheme, enabling women already employed within the sector to develop their careers further; as well as setting up a website aimed at promoting job opportunities in aquaculture to women, with the goal of increasing representation in the industry: in 2018 just 11% of Scotland’s salmon farm workers and 15% of its shellfish farm employees were female.
2018 – Published by Pan European Networks Ltd in Congleton, United Kingdom