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OnAmission current location is in Brixham. This is a fishing port and a number of projects have been conducted in this area in relationship to applying modern technology to a historic industry.
1) Beamer simulator
2) Process control design within crab industry
3) Efficiency of fuel consumption of small and medium scaled vessels.
One of onamission’s purposes is to promote sustainability and re-use. The oceans are the farms of the seas, they are hostile environments to work in and idea for robotics and automation. Fuel consumption is a key factor and design of more efficient engines key to the future.
Its at the smaller end of the business the greater reward can be found. These are family business’s that are labour intensive and margins are tight. Assistance, training, use of new techniques and technology in selective and efficient fishing the way forward.
We have conducted the task analysis for small scale crabbers, within Brixham and formulated designs using aluminium boats. The material is key, light and recyclable. Wooden boats are heavy, slow and hard to maintain Like fibre glass boats they can not be recycled. Fibre glass boats are not robust enough for crabbing. The use of inboard motors makes it almost impossible to introduce effective process plant to lift, empty and re-bait the creels. Outboard motors, two separate ones provide redundancy, with the failure of one engine and re-configuration. This means that high speeds between creel processing can be achieved allowing wider coverage and higher yields. The use of diesel outboard engines seems the way forward. We have designed an integrated on-boat creel processing plant that has been shown to be effective.
The other area involves education, the concept of a apprenticeships within the fishing industry and formation of a scientific community that self governs the way forward. The fishing vessels give wide and regular coverage and with instrumentation put in place and SNP the ability to gain scientific and environmental data from the seas. This would be a second revenue stream, funding via research programs.
We seem to undervalue the fishing industry, but it provides a major food source. Inward investment and restrictions are the wrong directions, understanding, management and use of new technologies the way forward.
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