Roche based fish processors Ocean Fish has been awarded an Objective 1 fisheries grant to expand and develop its added value sales.

The company, formed in 1991, employs 25 fiull time staff at Victoria Industrial Estate, Roche. The grant of £15,000 will be used to purchase a skinning machine, which will help the company to process more fish. This specialist state of the art machine will help the business to process both frozen and smaller fish.

The majority of companies products are exported. The fish, which are exported, have thin fillets and are usually exported whole, if theses fish are skinned the value will increase dramatically. This will give the company the chance to attract new customers as well as providing an improved service to its existing export business, leading to more fish being bought from Cornwall’s fishermen and fish markets.

Alison Elvey, Objective 1 Fisheries Programme Manager commented, "I welcome the fact that the Objective 1 funding is being used to add value to locally caught fish, which has benefits for Ocean Fish and the Cornish fishing industry as a whole. The more fish is processed within Cornwall, the more Cornwall’s economy will benefit."

Mr Lakeman of Ocean Fish stated "The new machine is performing fantastically and will improve the companies products".