New Codes of practice to improve fishing safety coming into force
Picture credit Geoffrey Lee |
All three Codes have been developed with the help of the Fishing
Industry Safety group (which includes Fishing Federations, Seafish, the
Shipbuilders and Shiprepairers Association and the Fishermen’s Mission).
Each Code has been designed to improve safety through the introduction
of new safety requirements, adopting technological developments and addressing
recommendations from the Marine Accident Investigation Branch.
They include holding monthly emergency drills, liferafts for specific
vessels, the fitting of radar reflectors and bilge alarms, as well as fitting
of carbon monoxide monitors, EPIRBs and personal locator beacons with built-in
GPS.
David Fenner from the Maritime & Coastguard Agency said: “We have
worked hard with all those connected with the fishing industry on these codes.
This is all about reducing the risk of serious accidents and deaths. Even one
death is one too many.
“The new requirements for liferafts, EPIRBs and Personal Locator Beacons
are being phased in so if your vessel is already registered as a fishing
vessel, you will have until 23 October 2019 to comply. This will
allow you to apply for funding from the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund to
claim back up to 60% of the cost.
“However, vessels registering as fishing vessels for the first time, or
re-registering after an absence of six months or more, on or after 23 October this year, must comply with all the requirements of the Code
immediately.”
Derek Cardno from Scottish Fishermen's Federation (SFF) said: “Industry has welcomed the opportunity
to be involved in the new fishing codes. Although the new codes will
provide challenges for some fishermen to be compliant, the safety of the
industry will improve.”
Robert
Greenwood from National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations (NFFO) said: “By listening and working with the industry the MCA
have developed the new codes in a practical and meaningful way. We hope this
will lead not only to more people surviving accidents but also, and more
importantly, to far fewer accidents too.”