Fishermen urged to make sure their EPIRBs are registered

By Tina Comeau

SOU’WESTER

Search and rescue officials are once again urging all fishermen to make sure the EPIRBs on their fishing vessels are registered.

Because if they’re not registered than fishermen in an emergency situation could find out things are even more dire.

Not having a registered EPIRB – an emergency position indicating radio beacon – could waste valuable time and resources if it is activated in a distress situation. Without the device being registered, it could take search and rescue officials hours to track it down.

“We get a lot of problems down here in southwest Nova with EPIRBS that are not registered,” Donnie Billard, Maritime coodinator for the Joint Resecue Coordination Centre told lobster fishermen at a Nov. 9 meeting in Yarmouth, N.S. “If I say to you, ‘Is it registered?’ and you say ‘I think it is,’ that’s not the answer I’m looking for.”

Part of the problem behind an unregistered EPIRB is fishermen who have bought a vessel and had equipment installed on it may presume that their EPIRB has been registered for them. But unless a fisherman has directly taken steps to register their own EPIRB then it isn’t registered because this isn’t something that is automatically done at the time of purchase.

Registered EPIRBs provide search and rescue officials with contact information – the name of the vessel, telephone numbers, the location a vessel fishes in, the number of crew, and so on.

Conversely, unregistered EPRIBs can cause delays in locating a vessel in distress and they can tie up resources to locate a vessel that isn’t in distress.

Every time an EPIRB is activated it has to be treated as a distress situation unless there is information to the contrary. That means as soon as the EPIRB goes off, search and rescue resources are being tasked.

“It’s unreal, you wouldn’t believe the goose chases we get on this stuff,” said Billard.

But if it can quickly be discovered there is no emergency situation through the contact information available from a registered EPIRB – something as simple as a phone call – emergency resources can stand down.

And given the abuse EPIRBs take from the weather conditions fishermen are fishing in, there are equipment malfunctions and false alarms.

There are a few ways fishermen can register their EPIRBs. One is by contacting the EPIRB registry by email at CBR@sarnet.dnd.ca. Another way is to call 1-877-406-7671. They can also send a fax to 1-877-406-3298.

And just like it important to register the EPIRB on a vessel, it is equally important to update any changes like a contact telephone number, crew and fishing location changes, and vessel ownership changes.

Billard’s advice to fishermen when it comes to EPIRBs is to pay as much attention to them as they do all of their fishing and safety equipment.

And it’s probably just as well to assume it isn’t registered, because chances are it’s not.



QUICK GLANCE:

EPIRBS are an important part of the search and rescue system. They provide for early notification of a possible distress system.

If you are not sure if your EPIRB has been registered, send an email to the EPIRB registry at CBR@sarnet.dnd.ca or call 1-877-406-7671.