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EAGLE-TRIBUNE: Another tragedy underscores fishingโ€™s dangers

November 25, 2020 โ€” It was almost exactly a year ago that a scalloper out of New Bedford sank, taking the lives of three men on board and adding to the long roll call of people who die each year to put flounder, scallops and haddock on the table.

Tragically, that toll continued to go up this week with word the Emmy Rose, a Portland-based fishing boat, sank in high winds and rough seas off the coast of Provincetown. Although the U.S. Coast Guard was continuing to search for the four crew members, the empty life raft and debris found Monday morning near the last known location of the vessel left little reason for hope.

Fishing has always been a dangerous job. Even with improvements in technology, emergency location devices, life rafts and survival suits, the quest for seafood has pushed fishermen and some women farther out to sea in often treacherous and unpredictable weather. The Emmy Rose disappeared at a time when the wind was gusting to 30 mph or more, and seas were reportedly 6 to 8 feet โ€“ conditions severe enough to force a rescue helicopter to return to base.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health regularly documents the dangers of working conditions in many industries. Working on a commercial fishing boat means working in a hazardous environment. Itโ€™s strenuous work with long hours and in all kinds of weather โ€“ often on a slippery, rolling work surface with heavy equipment and many moving parts.

Read the full opinion piece at The Eagle-Tribune

CHRIS WOODLEY: Consequences: Letโ€™s not go overboard

November 11, 2020 โ€” Every month, more than one fisherman dies from the most preventable accident in the industry. Accounting for 30 percent of industry fatalities, falls overboard occupy the strange position of being both the easiest risk to solve while simultaneously being one of the most persistently stubborn causes of death. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 220 commercial fishermen died after falling overboard from 2000 to 2016.

That may not seem like a huge number โ€” just under 14 fatalities a year. But most of those fishermen lost at sea could have come home safely had their captains implemented an inexpensive and simple change in behavior. If all of us in the industry make this small shift in our responsibilities when we step onboard, we can ensure that more of our crew comes home safe. So letโ€™s start a conversation about falls overboard.

Not surprisingly, FOB fatalities are highest in cold-water fisheries occurring off Alaska and the Northeast. However, even in the warm Gulf of Mexico waters, they account for 27 percent of industry fatalities.

The issue isnโ€™t a lack of gear โ€” manufacturers have done a remarkable job developing a huge variety of PFDs that are lightweight, comfortable, and are designed with the rigors of commercial fishing in mind. Similarly, there is a wide range of commercially available gadgets to recover people from the water โ€” including deployable devices, such as life slings and life rings; and fixed devices, like recovery ladders that attach to the rail or hull of a vessel.

Read the full opinion piece at National Fisherman

Overboard death rate falls for fishermen

November 26, 2018 โ€” 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, itโ€™s hard to imagine youโ€™d be around to read this.

So, letโ€™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.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Man overboard cases down by half; still No. 2 killer

November 20, 2018 โ€” Overboard deaths have declined 47 percent in the fishing industry since 2000, possibly as result of better training, awareness and equipment.

But falls overboard are still the second leading cause of death among fishermen, with solitary operators at the most risk, according to studies by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

โ€œBy far we see the highest numbers in the Gulf of Mexico shrimp fishery,โ€ followed by the Maine lobster fleet and Northwest salmon gillnetters, said Samantha Case, an epidemiologist with NIOSH who summarized researchersโ€™ findings at Sundayโ€™s opening of the annual Pacific Marine Expo in Seattle.

A session titled โ€œThrow Me a Ropeโ€ was the first of several PME safety seminars, where Case and NIOSH colleague Theodore Teske talked about how fishing captains can better protect themselves and their crews.

The good news is overboard falls have declined steadily since the turn of the century. That year marked a major commercial fishing safety push by the Coast Guard, after a series of accidents off the East Coast that killed 10 fishermen in early 1999.

That brought renewed pressure for safety examinations, proper equipment and safety training and drilling for crews. Anecdotally, industry culture has appeared to shift, with better equipment and preparedness evident on the boats, the NIOSH workers said.

Read the full story at National Fisherman   

 

Fish safety goes global

November 5, 2018 โ€” Every fisherman deserves to come home safely at the end of a trip. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has been working for decades not only to track injuries in the U.S. commercial fishing fleet, but also to research and develop targeted safety solutions for specific regions and gear types in cooperation with the fishing industry. Although there has been a decrease in the number of fatalities and vessel disasters in the United States over the last few decades, even one life lost or one career ended is still too many.

This is why NIOSHโ€™s Center for Maritime Safety and Health Studies gathered a group together to organize the fifth International Fishing Industry Safety and Health Conference (IFISH 5).

In June 2018, more than 175 occupational safety and health researchers, safety professionals, industry members and students from 24 countries gathered in St. Johnโ€™s, Newfoundland, with the goal of improving safety and health in the commercial fishing industry through research, innovation, and the exchange of ideas. Thatโ€™s double the size and programing of any previous IFISH conference.

One of the recurring themes throughout the conference was that fishermen, while an independent bunch, make safety a priority. They desire solutions that are relevant and practical to their work. What weโ€™ve learned is that the best research, solutions and policies come from listening to fishermen โ€” identify what saves them money, what makes work more efficient, and what makes sense for their specific fleet.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Study: Of 204 U.S. fishermen who died falling overboard, none wore a flotation device

May 7, 2018 โ€” Commercial fishing remains one of the most dangerous jobs in the nation, with a fatality rate that is 23 times higher than for all other workers.

Vessel sinkings account for half of all fishing fatalities; second is falling overboard โ€” deaths that are largely preventable.

From 2000 through 2016, 204 U.S. fishermen died after falling overboard, according to a just released study called Fatal Falls Overboard in Commercial Fishing by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, or NIOSH. Nearly 60 percent of the falls were not witnessed, and almost 90 percent of the victims were not found.

In all instances, not a single fisherman was wearing a personal flotation device.

โ€œI think there is a social stigma against it. Itโ€™s a sort of macho thing. I also think there is a lack of awareness that there are really comfortable PFDs,โ€ said Jerry Dzugan, director of the Alaska Marine Safety Education Association for over three decades.

Todayโ€™s life jackets are not the bulky, cumbersome clunkers that most people are familiar with from childhood or have stashed in the cubbies of recreational boats. Newer models are lightweight and built right into rain bibs, or fit comfortably over or into deck gear.

โ€œIโ€™ve got a couple that are so comfortable that when I leave my boat, I forget I have them on,โ€ Dzugan said.

He estimated that less than 10 percent of Alaska fishermen wear PFDs while working, whereas โ€œa few years ago it was less than 5 percent.โ€

According to the NIOSH report, the number of falls overboard decreased on average by 3.9 percent annually during the studyโ€™s time frame. Most falls occurred on the east coast (62), followed by the Gulf of Mexico (60). Alaska ranked third with 51 deaths overall.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

 

Fatal falls overboard continue downward trend

May 4, 2018 โ€” Itโ€™s not something most fishermen think about once they leave the dock and head out to the grounds. Iโ€™m talking going overboard and how to increase your chances of getting back aboard alive. Maybe itโ€™s late at night and youโ€™re coming off your wheel turn. You exit the wheelhouse, drop down a step just as the boat takes a wicked heave and youโ€™re pitched over the side. Maybe you get wrapped up in pot warp as it snakes across the deck and out the stern, hauling you and the traps with it.

There are probably a couple hundred different maybes and some of them certainly snared the 204 fishermen that died from unintentional falls overboard between 2000 and 2016. In all cases, none of the victims was wearing a PFD. In Fatal Falls Overboard in Commercial Fishing 2000 โ€” 2016, a just released report from the CDCโ€™s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, those man overboard deaths are examined.

A chart shows the number of falls overboard by year and the trend of fatal falls overboard. A second chart breaks down most of the 204 fatalities by several categories including age, fishing experience, activity before the fall and cause of fall. A third chart displays the recovery status of overboard victims. For instance, of the 83 fishermen seen falling overboard, 27 soon went out of sight, while for 56 fishermen a recovery was attempted within an hour. Of those five could not be recovered and 22 were recovered but could not be resuscitated.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

 

Fishing is a deadly business, but many fishermen wonโ€™t wear life preservers

December 27, 2017 โ€” One rogue wave or false step, an ankle caught in a line, is all it takes to cast a fisherman overboard. But those risks have never been enough to convince Rick Beal that itโ€™s worth wearing a life preserver.

Even though he has never learned how to swim.

Commercial fishing ranks among the most dangerous professions, but fishermen โ€” fiercely independent and resistant to regulations โ€” have long shunned life preservers, often dismissing the flotation devices as inconvenient and constraining.

Between 2000 and 2013, 665 US fishermen died at sea, nearly one-third of them after falling overboard. Not one of the latter group was wearing a life preserver, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Unlike many mariners, commercial fishermen arenโ€™t required to wear them, although the government requires their boats to carry life preservers.

When a clam boat sank off Nantucket earlier this month, two fishermen who were apparently not wearing flotation devices died, while a pair of crew members who managed to put on life-saving gear survived.

The fatal capsizing of the Misty Blue has renewed calls for requiring fishermen to wear life preservers, just as bikers must wear helmets and drivers use seat belts. Those safety measures also faced considerable resistance before gaining acceptance.

Read the full story at the Boston Globe

 

Wanted: Lobstermen willing to try out life vests

November 28th, 2016 โ€” The Northeast Center for Occupational Health and Safety is asking New England lobstermen to help design a life jacket they would actually wear every day.

It could be a matter of life or death.

Researchers will visit Maine docks this winter to recruit fishermen to try out different kinds of personal flotation devices, or PFDs, for a month to determine which designs work best for daily use aboard a lobster boat. The lobstermen will be paid to test the life vest, and can keep it for their own use once they are done.

โ€œThis isnโ€™t about making lobstermen wear anything, telling them what to do or regulating anything,โ€ said principal investigator Julie Sorensen of the Northeast Center. โ€œItโ€™s about making PFDs comfortable enough that fishermen want to wear them.โ€

Statistics suggest it will be a hard sell, but well worth it.

In a study published this year, the Northeast Center found only 16 percent of lobstermen reported using a personal flotation device on the job, even though they know the risk of drowning. Falls overboard are the leading cause of workplace fatalities for New England lobstermen, accounting for 16 out of 29 on-the-job deaths from 2000 to 2015, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

None of the lobstermen who died from a fall overboard was wearing a life jacket, records show.

Read the full story at The Portland Press Herald 

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