Kate Beecroft MHK, Member for Fisheries, attended one of a number of training sessions put on for Manx fishermen and DEFA staff last week, to assist in the move to electronic logbooks, which is due to take place on 1 November.
Commenting after the training Mrs Beecroft said:
'The move from paper records to electronic ones is the biggest shake up in fisheries bureaucracy for a generation. I was impressed by how engaged both staff and fishermen were, as we work together to make this move a success. Whilst there are bound to be teething problems, I would hope that electronic reporting will become part and parcel of a normal day both at sea and in the office. In the medium to long term, we would hope that streamlining data collection, and exchange, between fishermen, officials and processors will assist us all to manage our marine resources more wisely and responsively.'
She continued:
'The Isle of Man has taken a different approach to the UK Administrations, by agreeing a single bespoke solution that will cover all Manx vessels. This has enabled us to negotiate competitive running costs and a single service contract that has proved to be very good value relative to solutions seen elsewhere.'
