Four more ready to take to sea

BORD Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), the Irish Sea Fisheries Board, presented four young students with their certificates of competency in Commercial Fishing recently in the National Fisheries College, Greencastle.

Jevgenijs Abolins, from Donegal, James Sinnott from Wexford, Calum Bolger from Waterford and Denis Hilmer from Cork all completed the 6-month training course that covers all aspects of working life on board a fishing vessel. Safety at sea plays a key part in the course and participants undertake certificates in Fire Fighting, First Aid and Personal Survival techniques. The course is very practical and includes care of the catch, fishing vessel operations, fishing gear maintenance and repair, marine engine operations, navigation and stability. The work experience element of the course is carried out on the college’s 15-metre vessel ‘The Lough Swilly’

James Sinnott received the ‘Trainee of the Course’ Award for achieving the highest marks in the course exams.

BIM provides an extensive training programme to the Irish Seafood Industry through its dedicated colleges in Greencastle and Castletownbere and also on its two mobile Coastal Training Units that travel to every port in the country. In 2015, BIM delivered 207 training places in 25 locations to 1,700 students, equating to 14,000 contact hours.

If you are interested in the next Commercial Fishing course, starting in September 2016 or any of BIM’s training courses, please contact BIM’s National Fisheries College on 074 93 810687 or email nfcgreencastle@bim.ie