SCOTLAND’S seafood sector has been awarded almost £1 million of European cash to promote its produce across the globe.

Seafood Scotland will receive £900,000 to help showcase the sector at trade events in Brussels, Boston, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore and Cologne.

The SNP’s Brexit minister Mike Russell announced the funding while promoting Scottish produce at the Seafood Expo Global event in Brussels.

He said: “Raising the awareness and enhancing the global profile of the Scottish seafood industry will assist the sector as a whole while helping individual businesses to expand into new markets and increase consumer awareness of their fine products.

“This is just one example of why EU funding is so important as it is helping showcase our fisheries sector, improve the quality of its products and develop more environmentally-friendly practices.

“Our fishing industry is a vital part of the rural economy, with our fishing fleet generating £437m last year and fish and seafood recording increased exports.

“Salmon is key to this success. We are the world’s third-largest salmon producer, accounting for 94 per cent of the EU production.

“Each year we export around 172,000 tonnes globally, of which more than a third heads to the EU, illustrating the crucial importance to Scotland of the European marketplace.”

Patrick Hughes, head of Seafood Scotland, said they were “delighted”, and added that the cash from the European and Maritime Fisheries Fund would be vital over the coming months as “Scotland tries to cement its place as a true global competitor” in the sector.