The Kingfisher Information Services department of Seafish had a busy show. Matt Frow, Kingfisher Manager, said: “It was fantastic to see Scottish Skipper Expo back up and running. We were impressed with the number people, especially skippers, who took the time to attend the show and were keen to catch-up face to face.”
The highlights for Kingfisher were:
- Skippers creating ‘hazard alerts’ for where they fish:
During the Skipper Expo 2022, Kingfisher launched the updated version of the Kingfisher Bulletin App. This allows skippers to create a number of hazard alert areas for where they fish, with the Bulletin app ‘pinging’ and an email or text message received for any new hazard or activity in their fishing area. This was popular at the 2022 Skipper Expo, with attendees reporting the system quick and easy to use.
The Kingfisher team were on hand to guide attendees through the process and sign-up on their smart phones within a couple of minutes. “The Kingfisher Bulletin system is delivering over 10,000 hazard alert a month to users and Kingfisher are excited to further develop the app. Events like Skipper Expo offer us the chance to gain quality feedback from the fishing industry, which is essential for us to continue to improve our services,” said Matt Frow.
- Fishing restrictions made clearer:
The Skipper Expo 2022 provided the first opportunity for Kingfisher to speak with skippers about the new Kingfisher Fishing Restriction service. Skippers said that restrictions were often confusing and this website (www.kingfisherrestrictions.org) and plotter data provided a much simplified picture of those restrictions that applied to their type of fishing gear. With spatial squeeze and marine protection hot topics of conversion, the fishing industry were really interested to see the current footprint of different gear restrictions around the UK.
“The Kingfisher Fishing Restriction service currently displays over 1,500 restricted areas for fishing gears. With recent news of a further restrictions coming into force, this is going to increase and potentially further complicate the picture. We hope www.kingfisherrestrictions.org offers some much needed clarity for Skippers,” said Matt Frow.
- The new ‘auto-updating’ FishSAFE v3 Alarm Unit:
After years of development, the FishSAFE v3 Alarm Unit was launched to Skippers at the 2022 show. The upgraded unit now offers Skippers auto-update, touch screen, HDMI connection, amongst other advancements. This generated a great deal of interest at the show with Skippers confirming they would go and speak to neighbouring stand – the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation – about ordering a new unit. Support for the v2 unit – currently within the fleet – is being discontinued in summer 2023. Therefore, Skippers wishing to secure a new v3 unit at a heavily discounted price should speak to the SFF.
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