The sea was in his blood – Robert Charles ‘Bobby’ Brown was born in 1901 into a prolific fishing family. His father Charlie and uncles were all fishermen, and he went to sea from the age of six. The family…
Marine insurance specialist Sunderland Marine has been creating easy and approachable ways to communicate the importance of safety on fishing vessels. Rachael Harper spoke to marine underwriting manager Craig McBurnie and loss prevention executive Alvin Forster (pictured above, right, with…
After receiving unprecedented access to its archives, filmmaker Shona Thomson decided to show a side of the RNLI many have not seen before with her documentary film Launch! On the Sea with Scotland’s Lifeboats. Rachael Harper reports It does take…
Sustainable fishing and co-operative working underpin the survival of this ‘Jurassic coast’ fishing community, reports John Periam West Bay, the fishing harbour at Bridport, is one to be approached with caution, especially when an onshore wind is blowing. In the…
Skippers Ian Shearer and Malcolm Reid and the crew of the latest addition to the Shetland fleet, the single-rig whitefish stern trawler Courageous LK 470, quickly started to prove the fishing credentials of their new vessel earlier this month, reports…
The UK’s independent Marine Accident Investigation Branch is uniquely placed to advance fishing safety, reports John Periam Set up in 1989, the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) is part of the Department for Transport and is entirely independent of the…
Preventing accidents starts with getting to grips with risk assessment, explains Mark Lennon from the MCA Survey and Inspections team Commercial fishing carries high risk to health and safety. Accident, death and serious injury rates are over 20 times higher…
Home and Dry – the Fishing Industry Safety Group (FISG) campaign sharing vital messages about safety at sea – is launching a new man-overboard (MOB) prevention campaign this week to remind all those working on fishing vessels to take three…
In 1971, photographer Alec Gill began to document the life of Hull’s Hessle Road fishing community, building up a collection of over 6,600 black and white negatives. Here he shares some of the memories evoked by his pictures… Having hitch-hiked…
The fishing community in Ramsgate has a long history – but an uncertain future, reports John Periam Ramsgate harbour, built between 1787 and 1795 by John Smeaton, has the distinction of being the United Kingdom’s only royal harbour. Like many…