Eight projects were approved by the first EFF Selection Panel held on November 13, and a further five are likely to succeed if further information is forthcoming.
Safety for fishermen at sea gets a major up-grade with the RNLI awarded £250,000 to help get the Man Overboard Guardian system installed on over 650 vessels in England by the end of 2011.
The satellite based MOB Guardian system consists of a base unit, and crew personal safety devices (PSDs). The base unit automatically transmits, via satellite, regular updates of a vessel’s position, course and speed to the RNLI’s monitoring station.
If a regular update is missed, the monitoring station tries to regain contact with the boat. If no further updates are received an alert is raised with the coastguard so that a search can be initiated. Because the last known position of the vessel has been recorded, searching by the rescue services becomes far easier and casualties can be reached much quicker.
PSDs, supplied with the MOB Guardian, can be worn either round the neck or put in a pocket. If a crewmember falls overboard and hits the water, an alert is automatically triggered to both the main unit on the vessel and also the RNLI monitoring station. Not only that, but the PSD can also be used as a panic button if a serious incident occurs on board.
At the other end of the latest EFF grant scale a £1,500 grant will help the Shellfish Association of Great Britain develop an adaptive management protocol to facilitate how shellfisheries can operate in European Marine Sites.
Another £150,000 goes to a Seafish project on collection of scientific data by fishermen using innovative technologies to capture evidence on their industry.
Ray Hedley, Chair of the England Selection Panel and Head of MFA’s Business Relations Team said: “I am delighted that we have got the programme up and running.
“Businesses now need to convert their expressions of interest into high quality applications. A facilitation team exists to assist. The EFF is a tool to support the industry in striving to be sustainable, profitable, well managed and internationally competitive.”
The next EFF Selection Panel will be held on 28 January 2009. Applications to be considered by the panel must be received by 28 November 2008
