Us fishermen need to stop the rules the mca have brought in regarding the use of self draining decks .

we have been fishing boats like this for generations and now they are telling us it’s not safe .

they want us to use bilge pumps instead and it’s making our job dangerous as the bilge pumps are no good.

we would like to know how they come up with these crazy ideas 

when something goes wrong at sea the life boat / coastguard come and save us and we are really gratefull we have them and there boats have self draining decks so what does that say…..

We are full time fisherman from Burryport in s/wales alot of us have just had a 5 year inspection like we have had in the past and there’s been some big changes that I believe will put fishermen in danger.
Most of us have sealed decks with elephant trunks ( donkeys)on the back , these are designed to let water out fast when moving then pulled up when we stop .they have worked perfect over the year as it gets the water out quicker than any pump.
Now they have asked us to remove the trunks and block the holes up also cut a hole in the sealed deck to fit a bilge pump in, this is very dangerous as the pump will never compete with the trunks it just won’t handle the amount of water plus it will clog up with debris.
Our boats have been active for more than 20years and have worked brilliant with no issues but now they are making us change.
Everyone in the fishing industry is against this but it’s very hard to challenge the mca ,
I really don’t know what experience in fishing these mca surveyors have but they are putting us in danger also a lot of fishermen are giving up as these rules are making it impossible to abide by .
My plan is to get all the fishermen involved and anyone else to fight this as the rules are goin to change alot more in the future .