A NORTH EAST technology business is looking to haul in a big catch of new clients after becoming the only provider in the north of England to secure government accreditation for a state-of-the-art fishing device.

Succorfish is one of just four firms to successfully complete the Marine Management Organisation’s extensive approvals process for Inshore Vessel Monitoring Systems (I-VMS), which are used to monitor the location of fishing boats within the UK’s coastal waters.

The North Tyneside-headquartered firm’s SC2 Gen 2 iVMS system provides an easy-to-use, cloud-based monitoring platform that is accessible from tablets, desktop computers or a smart phone app via satellite and Bluetooth.

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It gives boat crew accurate guidance on whether their vessels are in an area in which they’re permitted to fish, and also provides the fishing authorities with real time data on whether vessels should or shouldn’t be in particular areas, enabling appropriate action to be taken against any that are potentially fishing unlawfully in restricted conservation zones.

The accreditation follows successful trials of the SC2 system within the coastal waters covered by the Welsh Fishing Authority and the Devon & Severn Inshore Fisheries & Conservation Authority, and relates to vessels that are 12m or less in length.

Of the three other firms that have secured the MMO accreditation, one is based on the south coast of England, while the other two are located overseas.

The Succorfish device is also the only one that is fully integrated into the MMO’s Government Gateway software.

Founded in 2008, Succorfish has a 20-strong in-house design, software engineering, development and customer service team which also provides bespoke training programmes.

Its hardware is designed and manufactured in North Shields, with stock held in fishing ports across the UK, and as far afield as Norway, Malta, the US, Australia and New Zealand.

 

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