Gear technologists will be present at the exhibition to discuss gear related issues as well as other efficiency and technology developments.
Seafish Economics will also be promoting its vessel business benchmarking service and using the opportunity to discuss with fishermen how to gain a better understanding of capital value invested and return on investment in some key sectors of the UK fishing fleet.
The government has committed to put in place an ecologically coherent network of Marine Protected Area (MPAs) by 2012. Fishing activities which do not have a significant impact on wildlife will be unaffected, some might need to be restricted in certain areas, but if so, it may be possible to find wildlife-friendly ways to keep working. Seafish is developing an MPA Roadmap aimed at fishermen to ensure the fishing industry understands and becomes involved in the processes which will influence future marine management.
The MPA Roadmap will act as a guide to progress on the Marine Bills, will track the Natura 2000 designations of European Marine Sites, report on pilot projects which will lead to new nature MPAs or Marine Conservation Zones and provide contact details for key individuals and organisations involved in the whole process. The first issue is due to be published in April.
Kingfisher will be promoting the latest version of its CDs containing oil & gas and submarine cable data. The new CDs, which will replace all the floppy disks used previously, come in a wallet containing a booklet with concise loading instructions for both sets of data. The oil & gas data is in conjunction with the Fisheries Legacy Trust Services Ltd (FLTCS) who has now taken over responsibility for providing information on behalf of the operators, Oil & Gas UK Ltd. The Submarine Cable information project is run by Kingfisher on behalf of the United Kingdom Cable Protection Committee (UKCPC)
Kingfisher will also be promoting, on behalf of FLTCS, the long awaited new version of the FishSafe Alarm System which uses the database of obstructions to alert the fishermen to what is ahead of them on the seabed. Promotional material for this new system will be available on the stand.
Kingfisher is also promoting a new website being built for FLTCS and managed by Kingfisher dedicated to provision of information for fishermen regarding the offshore oil industry. This website will be available in five different languages and fishermen will be able to register to receive the latest news in their own language.
