Ireland Fisherman Encouraged to Wear Life Jackets with Embedded GPS Tracking Devices
2 Feb 2016A new fishermen’s water safety course is being conducted in Castletownbere. Over the past decade, 53 fishermen died at sea, which has encouraged the launch of a national campaign through the fisheries board BIM to encourage seafarers to wear lifejackets equipped with GPS tracking technology. In the sector in 2015 alone, there were 4 fishing-related deaths.
Caitlin Ui Aodha, a skipper herself, backs the campaign since she lost her husband, Michael Hayes in 2012 in a fishing tragedy off Union Hall in Tit Bonhomme.
The Irish Sea Fisheries Board, Bord lascaigh Mhara (BIM), has now disclosed its public relations and national advertising campaign against abrupt death statistics.
The hope is that the campaign will get more fishermen to wear their lifejackets whenever at sea and complete involuntary safety survival training through BIM. These personal flotation device (PFD) lifejackets in the campaign are equipped with GPS tracking devices, which will send signals out to emergency services when activated and provide them with the exact location of the devices.
In this campaign, there are compelling advertisements designed to make fishermen seriously consider the repercussions of not wearing the lifejackets with this modern tracking technology. According to Simon Coveney, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, hopefully fishing families all over the country will back up the campaign so that when their loved ones go out to their boats, they wear their PFD lifejackets so their safe return home is ensured.
The campaign is vital to keeping those in the fishing industry safe, offering peace of mind for their families and improving the overall survival rate of the industry, says Tara McCarthy, Clonakilty woman and CEO of BIM.
GPS tracking is not used in traditional lifejackets, which means that it could take days before a lost fisherman is found out at sea and cause a great deal of anxiety for their family. With the PFD lifejackets, the tracking devices in them are activated when they hit water, which means faster recovery time and more chances of the lost fishermen being alive when found.
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