Nine new fishermen join the Cornish workforce
11th August 2017
Nine new entrants to the fishing industry are now looking for their first experience of working at sea after completing their Introduction to Commercial Fishing (ICF), an intense and broad course, at Newlyn.
Above: SCT tutor Andy Wheeler with the group of nine new entrants after they completed the ICF course.
The graduates spent 15 days training on shore, delivered by Seafood Cornwall Training in Newlyn, learning about the operation of fishing vessels, many different fishing methods and how to behave on board. They graduate with their Basic Sea Safety Certificates and now comply with all the relevant mandatory safety certification to work as commercial fishermen.
Graduates are looking for on board experience on vessels in Cornwall over the next few weeks, and several skippers have agreed to take them on. Skippers with a spare berth can contact the SCT office on: 01736 364324.
SCT manager Clare Leverton said: “Although these fishermen have no experience yet, they make up for it in keenness. All the instructors report that they are a good bunch and will become useful deckhands on any boat. And some should go on to skipper in future. The next stage is for them to develop their experience. We wish them all well and will be mentoring them as they progress.”
Newlyn harbourmaster Rob Parsons presents Jack Moore with his ICF Certificate.
Certificates were awarded to the graduates by Rob Parsons, harbourmaster at Newlyn. On meeting the graduates, Rob was impressed with the camaraderie of the group and told them: “You are joining the fishing industry at the right time; there are many changes coming, but I believe this is a growing industry and there is no limit to how far you can take your career.”
In addition to completing all the mandatory Sea Safety Training in sea survival, first aid, fire prevention and firefighting, the graduates received a detailed grounding across many subjects including fisheries management, vessel operation, caring for the catch, watch keeping, navigation, fishing vessel engineering, fishing gear operation and net mending. The ICF course was developed by Seafish and has become recognised as the industry model for new entrants. Thanks to funding support received from the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), the ICF course is provided free of charge to participants.
Seafood Cornwall Training has developed a programme of training from September to December 2017, including this course for new entrants. More information on the detailed programme, together with funding opportunities to support a wide range of training courses are available at: seafoodcornwalltraining.co.uk
