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EDITORIAL COMMENT Fishing in focus


The UK Fisheries Departments can now monitor fi shing vessels and catch activity.


being investigated, as it seems there is now an urgent need within the fishing community to monitor fishing stocks more closely, and to ensure quotas are not exceeded. As I am sure you are aware, many species of fish are now threatened with extinction. At the same time, the UK Government is


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aiming to reduce the number of accidents that fishermen are involved in, in a move to ensure they are sufficiently trained, both in basic health and safety, as well as in their sophisticated, and often complicated, technical kit. The Department for Environment, Food


and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has recently acted on behalf of the UK Fisheries Departments and has employed the telematics service provider Cybit’s BlueFinger technology. The BlueFinger satellite tracking system (SAFFIRE) will monitor fishing activity in UK waters until 2012. In addition, the UK Fisheries Departments will use SAFFIRE to monitor fishing activity by EC and third party country vessels in UK waters, as well as to track all British vessels over 15m in length around the world. Since 1999, it has been a legal requirement


for fishing vessels over 24m (and over 15m from 2004) in UK waters to report in via satellite every two hours. It is also a legal requirement that the UK Fisheries Departments have in place a platform to enable the monitoring of this fishing activity in UK waters.


The SAFFIRE system is used to determine


which vessels are not reporting via satellite as well as ensuring closed areas etc are observed; the UK Fisheries Departments in turn will investigate transgressions of these using air support, patrol vessels, and land-based staff in ports.


nce again the state of UK fishing and fishermen is being scrutinised. A push towards realistic fishing is


The SAFFIRE system also allows the UK


Fisheries Departments to validate other fisheries’ legislation - for example positional data reports are used to verify a vessel’s location against the information in their individual log-books, which show where they were fishing and which stocks they have caught. Reports help to validate that all vessels’ satellite positions tally with the information they have recorded in their own log-books. This helps to ensure vessels declare the correct areas of fishing which in turn ensures the correct uptake of quotas.


“A recent study by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) showed that the fi shing industry is 115 times more dangerous than the construction industry”


The BlueFinger system allows the UK


Fisheries Departments to tell instantly how many boats are fishing and more importantly, where and what they are fishing. It is thought that the system could be tracking anything up to 1000 vessels per day in UK waters. Importantly, the data produced now has extensive uses, as it is used for scientific research to identify fishing patterns and trends. Meanwhile, UK Minister of Shipping,


Ship & Boat International September/October 2008


Jim Fitzpatrick also recently announced funding of £250,000 to help fishermen attend a programme of training this year, with the potential for further funding for two more years, subject to review. The funding will be matched by investment


in training by Seafish, the body set up by the UK Government to provide expert knowledge, skills, and support to help the UK seafood industry secure a sustainable and profitable future. A recent study by the Maritime and


Coastguard Agency (MCA) showed that the fishing industry is 115 times more dangerous than the construction industry, and that those working in the under 16.5m sector, representing 89% of the fleet, are particularly at risk. Essential then, that fishermen are adequately trained. Fishermen onboard vessels of less than 16.5m are currently only required to undertake the basic safety training. Many accidents are caused by poor awareness of navigation, stability, and engineering. New courses have been developed by MCA and Seafish to address bridge watch keeping, engineroom watch keeping, and stability on vessels of less than 16.5m. These courses are currently voluntary but


at the request of the Fishermen’s Training Advisory Group and the Fishing Industry Safety Group, they will be made mandatory in the future. It is hoped that 300 fishermen will come forward in the first year for training. I believe we can conclude that fishing –


and those that work in the industry – is high on the government’s agenda. It is imperative that over-fishing of certain species does not occur, and that when using our seas we know exactly how to manage their environment. It makes sense for industry to work


with these initiatives, and the users of their systems, to reduce the margins for extinction and accidents. SBI


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