5 September, 2007

A new trust has been launched by the offshore oil and gas industry to help keep fishermen safe in UK waters once the oil industry has moved on.

The industry body Oil & Gas UK said the Fisheries Legacy Trust Company (FLTC) will be used to maintain up-to-date information on all oil related seabed hazards and make them available to fishing vessels.

The fund is the outcome of ongoing negotiations between the Scottish Fishermen's Federation (SFF), the National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations (NFFO) and Oil & Gas UK. It was launched earlier today
(Wednesday) during the Offshore Europe exhibition, in Aberdeen.

Former SFF president and FLTC director Alex West said the fund was going to make a tangible difference to the operation of fishing fleets in UK waters.

Trust chairman Niall Scott added: "The FLTC will extend the existing monitoring schemes in both scope and reach, preserving this valuable service to fishermen into the future.

"The first project in the pipeline is 'FishSafe Mk2,' an updated replacement of the 'FishSafe' monitor initially developed in 2000 and available in the wheelhouse of many fishing boats."

SFF operations director Michael Sutherland said ideally the fishing industry would like to see the offshore industry removing its seabed infrastructure, and the federation would continue to press for that.

"However, we cannot escape the fact that legislation does permit some infrastructure to remain on the seabed following the completion of an approved decommissioning programme.

"Over the years, the oil and gas industry has responded to lobbying by the fishing industry and has taken positive steps to develop methods and systems to enable the fishing industry to work safely and efficiently," he added.

The FLTC will initially be supported by funds from Oil & Gas UK but eventually will be wholly funded by contributions from oil and gas companies who will be asked to make a contribution at the time of
decommissioning.