The UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) announced the launch of a new funding scheme to support purchase of life-saving safety equipment for fishermen.
Under the scheme, vessel owners can claim back £200 per item towards the cost of buying PFDs with integrated PLBs for their crew by applying to Seafish, a Non-Departmental Public Body supporting the UK seafood industry.
This can potentially cover up to 50% of the cost of this life-saving equipment.
The new UK-wide funding scheme, delivered by Seafish in cooperation with the MCA and Trinity House, is open to owners of active UK registered commercial fishing vessels who have not previously received support to purchase PLBs from elsewhere.
The financial backing for the scheme is coming from the UK government’s new £1m fund to improve safety in the fishing industry, which was announced by Maritime Minister Nusrat Ghani at the Department for Transport in July 2019.
As part of its efforts to improve safety in UK waters, MCA is examining all of fishermen’s training and certification regulations, as it aims to update the UK’s training and examination system for fishermen.
Turnover of the UK fishing fleet was close to £1 billion in 2018, a report by the Seafish Industry Authority revealed earlier in the year.
