The website is the latest development in a long-running collaboration between the Kingfisher Information Service of Seafish and Subsea Cables UK. Renewable UK has been welcomed into the latest phase of this project, which has made possible the inclusion of wind farm and renewable energy data.
Matt Frow, Manager of Kingfisher said: "We recognise the concerns of the fishing industry around expanding offshore operations. We believe www.kis-orca.eu and the associated charts and plotter data, will provide fishermen with essential information to remain safe whilst undertaking their fishing activities. We will continue to work closely with all offshore industries to develop and improve the information that we provide to the fishing industry."
Information on the location of renewable structures such as wind farms, is a new addition to the Kingfisher dataset that is already provided by Kingfisher and made available at zero cost to fishermen. Each year, fishermen will receive an updated CD, with the KIS-ORCA positional information, in a format compatible with their on-board fishing plotter systems. The annually updated CDs will be supplied to the industry in the UK, by the Scottish Fishermen's Federation (SFF) and the National Federation Fishermen's Organisations (NFFO).
Dale Rodmell, Assistant Chief Executive at the NFFO said: "The Kingfisher Information Service is an invaluable one stop shop for the fishing industry in making available offshore hazard information, which is critical to ensuring safe fishing on a day to day basis. Providing information in a wide range of native fish plotter formats, ensures that nobody in the industry will miss out on such essential information".
John Watt, at the SFF said: "We are pleased to learn of this development with the offshore Renewables and Cable industries. This information will complement the current data our fishermen receive through the Kingfisher Information System. Many of our fishermen now have broadband facilities on board, so they have the ability to access the new interactive website while they are sea, giving them up to the minute data on Renewables and Cable operations."
Colin Rayman of Subsea Cables UK added: "We strongly encourage all members of the fishing industry to use this new resource as much as possible, and to enrol in receiving the plotter discs. We also ask the fishing industry to promote this service within and in particular those fishermen who are unaware of KIS-ORCA. The new and interactive website is the result of many months of research, planning, and understanding the information that the fishing industry will find useful. SCUK are delighted to have collaborated on this project."
We are encouraging as many fishermen as possible to click onto www.kis-orca.eu and take advantage of the essential information contained within, which places up to date information at their fingertips.
