Free sea safety training for Cornish fishermen – Fishupdate.com
Free sea safety training for Cornish fishermen Published: 06 June, 2013
Seafood Cornwall Training, the dedicated training agency for Cornwalls fishing industry, is calling on fishermen across the county to take up free sea safety training on offer.
Funding is currently available for fishermen to refresh their basic sea safety courses, but only until August 2013.
To qualify, fishermen must hold over three-year-old certificates for all of the four basic safety courses. The courses on offer are Sea Survival, First Aid, Fire Fighting and Safety Awareness. All candidates will receive a STCW 95 Personal Survival Techniques certificate and a STCW 95 Elementary First Aid certificate if they refresh their Basic Sea Survival and First Aid courses.
Emma Button, training coordinator at Seafood Cornwall Training, said: Its great fishermen can refresh these much need courses free of charge. Thats a saving of nearly £400 and we dont expect these funds to be available after August.
Paul Trebilcock, chief executive of the Cornish Fish Producers Organisation, added: Safety training is paramount to the wellbeing of fishermen and they should jump at the chance of free courses before this opportunity expires.
For those fishermen who want to progress their careers in fishing, funding is also available for Skippers Tickets for boats under 16.5 metres long. Fishermen with two years’ fishing experience qualify for funding, but this runs out in September 2013. The course which includes 5 Day Watchkeeping & Navigation, 1 day Intermediate Stability, 1 day GMDSS SRC VHF and 2 day Engineroom and Watchkeeping courses.
Emma said: Future funding for the skippers tickets is unknown so I urge any fishermen looking to progress in the sector to seriously consider these free courses, saving over £700. The courses are held in Newlyn at regular intervals so please call me on 01736 364324 if you are interested.
These initiatives are being funded by the European Fisheries Fund, Seafish, the Maritime & Coastguard Agency, Seafarers UK, Trinity House and the Scottish Fishermens Trust.
To find out more about Seafood Cornwall Training visit www.seafoodcornwalltraining.co.uk