November 26, 2018 — So, welcome back. We hope you had a fine Thanksgiving, whether you shared it with friends, family or that prickly tribe that inhabits North Sentinel Island out in the Andaman Sea. Though if it were the latter, it’s hard to imagine you’d be around to read this.
So, let’s open this week with some good news: Overboard deaths of commercial fishermen have declined by almost half to 204 in the period between 2000 and 2016, with credit going to better training, awareness and equipment.
According to studies by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the decline is a product of major safety initiatives by the U.S. Coast Guard in the wake of a series of accidents that killed 10 fishermen off the East Coast in 1999.
The most dangerous fisheries for overboard deaths, however, include the East Coast (particularly the Maine lobster fishery), the Gulf of Mexico shrimp fishery and Northwest salmon gillnetters.
The studies show overboard deaths have declined 47 percent since 2000, but remain the second leading cause of death among fishermen after vessel disasters.