The award was presented to John Sutcliffe, Executive Director of the Canadian Council of Professional Fish Harvesters (CCPFH) and Carey Bonnell of the Marine Institute of Memorial University (MI) on May 2 in Ottawa at the Chateau Laurier. The category for which it received an award was Integration in a Non-Formal Education Program.
The award recognises excellence in the design and integration of video, audio, podcast, graphics or animation in a formal or non-formal education programme. CNIE connects educators, administrators and practitioners in a bilingual, pan Canadian network. They promote research and advance practice in both open and distance education and the use of educational technologies.
This innovative simulator program was made possible thanks to its generous partners and supporters including the National Search and Rescue Secretariat – New Initiatives Fund (SAR-NIF) (recommended by Transport Canada), Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), Human Resource and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC), the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture (NL), the Department of Innovation, Business and Rural Development (NL), the Research & Development Corporation (RDC), the Canadian Centre of Fisheries Innovation, and the Professional Fish Harvesters Certification Board in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The Fishing Vessel Stability Simulator program is the first of its kind. It allows harvesters to learn about stability from their home computers and gives them the capability to replicate most Canadian fishing vessels in 3D. It gives users the ability to build and customise their boats and test it under different conditions of load. Understanding vessel stability is the single most important thing to ensure safety of both vessel and crew. The ultimate goal is to provide fish harvesters with the means to learn fishing vessel stability and apply them to a vessel virtually and subsequently when applied to real life save lives.
“Our vision for this program was to make a state-of-the-art learning tool and one where fish harvesters could learn in a safe environment” said John Sutcliffe. “We’re pleased that the program has been received this recognition.”
The program is free and available for download to all Canadians at www.FishHarvestersPecheurs.ca/Simulator. It supports learners and can be used in group training set up with professional facilitators.
