A conference in Ottawa last week, focusing on marine safety and security, heard a presentation from a researcher from this province on the level of usage of devices designed to reduce the dangers of life at sea.

Master mariner Captain Kris Drodge was one of those from this province attending the Canadian Marine Advisory Council meetings.

He says they got updates on many aspects of fishing and other marine pursuits, including the status of the switch from paper to electronic log keeping.

Drodge also noted that a recent research project in this province found that the use of personal flotation devices and personal locating beacons is on the upswing.

“You’d almost think that it would be a negative thing,” says Drodge, “but we’re seeing that there’s a very positive trend in the industry around the use of PFDs…and with PLBs, locator beacons for search and rescue. This is a very positive research project that was presented by one of our researchers, and it’s these types of things that I think are the big takeaways from events like this.”