Marine
Weather forecasting For the Fishing Industry
Weather forecasting plays a number of very important roles within the
fishing industry, saftey, being the foremost concern to us. Over the
last 6 years, 208 fisherman have died in South African waters and many
of these deaths
could have been prevented with the intelligent use of accurate weather
information.
Accurate weather information can improve your fishing and saftey in the
following ways:
1.) Can prevent the number of unsafe trips taken by the crew.
2.) Allow skippers and crew to plan ahead when conditions are rough or
the boat is a number of days from port.
3.) Reduce wear and tear on gear, reducing failure risks and
maintanence costs.
4.) Save on fuel costs by preventing lost fishing trips due to rough
seas.
New legislation being promulgated will necessitate the insurance of the
lives of the crew, the usage of accurate forecasts will lead to lower
premiums.
Weather forecasts are generated from the NOAA WaveWatch III model and
NCEP gfs (medium range forecast) model, which provide the most accurate
forecasts for the Southern Hemisphere region.
The raw model data is downloaded daily and processed according to
empirical models run by us to tailor the final forecast to local
conditions. Two main types of forecast are generated, a graphical
output for large forecast areas and a text based forecast for fixed
positions, all important variables are given, ie wind speed direction,
swell height, direction, period, rainfall,humidity and barometric
pressure.
Our forecasts have been tried and tested operationally and have been
proven to be among the best available under many different conditions.
Hindcasts can also be provided where it is necessary to determine
weather conditions historically.
Graphical Forecast
Text Forecast
