A project aimed at saving lives at sea has distributed around 3,500 pieces of vital safety kit to Scottish fishers.
The personal flotation devices (PFDs) have been supplied to crew working on Scottish-registered boats, in the hope more people will use them while working on deck.
A string of fatal incidents at sea have highlighted the importance of wearing PDFs.
Last year, a fatal accident inquiry into an accident off the Summer Isles in May 2014 concluded a life-jacket could have saved the life of Gary Forbes, 36, of Aultbea.
He had been working on the Barnacle III when he fell overboard and drowned.
The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SSF) has been distributing free PDFs, supported by the European Fisheries Fund, Scottish Fishermen’s Trust and UK Fisheries Offshore Oil and Gas Legacy Trust Fund, for the past four years.
SFF marine safety and training officer Derek Cardno said the recently ended scheme was a huge success.
He added: “These devices are specially designed to be worn on deck and not restrict manoeuvrability, while ensuring that fishermen who end up in the water will float – buying them time for recovery.
“The project has resulted in fishermen talking about fishing safety round the galley table.
“The scheme has been open to all vessels with appropriate certification and we are pleased that all 3,500 have now been issued.”
He added: “Usage of PDFs has increased but there is still a long way to go.
“Too many fishermen were lost overboard in 2016 not wearing PFDs.
“SFF would like to encourage fishermen working on deck to analyse the risks of the task in detail to reduce the chances of ending up in the water.
“Wearing a PFD is about giving the user a second chance should they end up in the water. Survival times without flotation on are recorded at less than 10 minutes.”
“The aim of the project was to give fishermen instruction and encouragement in the use of PFDs – this was accomplished in the vast majority of cases and prompted some fantastic discussions about fishing safety that, hopefully, will have a lasting affect.”