A three-year research study evaluating the use of personal floatation devices (PFDs) and personal locator beacons (PLBs) with Newfoundland and Labrador (N.L.) fish harvesters closed on March 23.
Conducted by Kerri Ann Ennis, a doctoral student in the School of Maritime Studies at the Marine Institute of Memorial University of Newfoundland, the purpose of the study is to better understand why fish harvesters choose to wear or not wear personal floatation devices and personal locator beacons.
The study included three rounds of surveys. “We did the first round two years ago. We did one last summer and the third round started in January,” said Ennis.
Participation in the study was voluntary and anonymous. Fish harvesters could participate in all three survey rounds by way of an online survey, where they were asked about their boating experience, their behaviour and attitude around the use of personal floatation devices and personal locator beacons — how often they wear the devices, what type of devices they own and how effective they think the devices are. They were also asked about risk perceptions and attitudes.
“It is expected that the results will provide evidence that will inform the fish harvesting sector of potential solutions to increase the use of personal floatation devices and personal locator beacons, subsequently increasing chance of survival in an emergency situation. In addition, regulations and training programs may be updated based on the findings of this research. All these expected outcomes would provide a benefit to the fish harvesting community in general,” read the survey description.
Research results will be presented in a technical report to the Canadian Centre for Fisheries Innovation and WorkplaceNL, who funded the project. Upon completion, the study will be publicly available as a written paper at Memorial University’s Queen Elizabeth II library, and can be accessed online at: https://research.library.mun.ca/view/theses_dept/MaritimeStud.html.
