COASTGUARD NEWS - NEWS ITEM

COASTGUARD NEWS - NATIONAL

National 075/01
22 March 2001

MARITIME & COASTGUARD AGENCY AT FISHING 2001

Fishing 2001, the United Kingdom’s premier fishing exhibition in Glasgow from 22 – 24^th March and will provide a major platform for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) to promote fishing safety.

MCA’s Chief Executive, Maurice Storey, said, " This is another good opportunity for the MCA to meet the fishing industry and to promote the new Code of practice for the safety of small fishing vessels that comes into force on 1 April 2001. The Code focuses on the move away from prescriptive regulations to a more user friendly orientated approach where the operator undertakes a risk assessment.

With a track record of fifteen consecutive years of successful growth, ‘FISHING’ is now firmly established as Europe’s leading trade exhibition for commercial fisheries. It is also probably the world’s most international marketplace for fishing equipment, with the sell-out 2000 event attracting over 450 exhibiting companies from 22 countries and visitors from a remarkable 46 countries, not only from every European and Scandinavian fishing nation, but many from Asia, Africa and North America.

" We are also introducing Government funded safety training courses for fishermen from 1 April 2001 for a period of 2 years. These will be voluntary for the first year."

Additional features on the MCA stand will be:

· One to one discussions about safety issues associated with different types of fishing methods with MCA staff, for example beam trawling;

· A ‘Spot the Difference’ prize winning competition will be held offering £500 worth of safety equipment suitable for smaller vessels to the winning entrant. The prizes will be on display throughout the show.

With the introduction of the new ‘Under 12 metre Code’ the MCA has set up a local rate telephone number for information, advice and for arranging nationwide inspections under this Code. The telephone number, which goes live on 2 April 2001 is 0845 6014072.