More than GBP 1.1 million (USD 1.4 million, EUR 1.3 million) of funding has been set aside by Scottish government to support the country’s fishing industry and to help make it safer.
With the funding, the goverment is aiming to reduce the number of accidents and lives lost at sea through a range of actions, including improved health and safety training and by paying for more personal locator beacons.
It will also help to fund “smart trawl,” a technology that reduces discards by allowing for more selective trawling, and will also contribute towards gathering data that will inform future fishing negotiations.
Specifically, GBP 615,000 (USD 796,891, EUR 714,652) will be allocated to fisheries safety and diversification, GBP 200,000 (USD 259,110, EUR 232,276) will go to the smart trawl program, and GBP 310,000 (USD 401,620, EUR 360,183) will be used to gather stock data.
Scottish Fisheries Secretary, Fergus Ewing, said there have been too many accidents and too many lives lost at sea over the years.
“I’m determined to do something about that. That is why I am particularly pleased to be able to announce further funding to improve safety, which will support costs in areas including training and personal locator beacons. This will be delivered through the Scottish Fishing Safety Group we established in May," he said. “The package will support further work to improve selectivity when catching certain species. It will also improve data on some important stocks – which is vital with the continued uncertainty around Brexit.”
Photo courtesy of Juan Vilata/Shutterstock
