The Fish Harvesters’ Safety Council is pleased with an increase in the use of personal flotation devices and personal locator beacons in the local fishing industry.

The positive trend was noted at a recent Canadian Marine Advisory Council conference in Ottawa.

The local safety association has put a push on to make personal locator beacons available to all fish harvesters in the province in an effort to reduce response times when things take a bad turn.

The executive director of the Fish Harvesters’ Safety Council, Craig Parsons, says their efforts are paying off.

“We partnered early in the game with the FFAW, the Fisheries Resource Centre and the certification board to purchase 2,500 PLBs, and we’re pleased to say that we’re down to the last couple of hundred,” says Parsons. “There are probably upwards of 2,200 to 2,300 personal locater beacons that are in the hands of fish harvesters right now.”