Principal calls for safety training in fisheries observer course

Youth & Careers

SAFETY is an important component of training for fisheries observers that undertake courses at the National Fisheries College in Kavieng, New Ireland, according to principal Jeff Kinch.
He said this while noting the coverage for fishing vessels in Papua New Guinea waters despite the college not providing
observer training courses.
“For PNG long line fishery there is a 100 per cent coverage and for the purse seine it is
5 per cent at the moment,” Kinch said.
“Changes in the regional approach to observers has meant that we are not running the observer courses anymore but PNG observers are still working on vessels right through the region mainly for the Parties to the Nauru Agreement group member countries so you will see PNG national observes in Fiji, the Federated States of Micronesia, Tuvalu and all around the Pacific.
“We were running the Pacific Island Regional Fisheries Observer Programme and are accredited with the National Maritime Safety Authority to run safety at sea training and we are also compliant with STCW (the International Maritime Organisation Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers) so sea safety training is a major component of the training.”