December 1, 2022 โ Commercial fishing has a reputation as a risky occupation. Being sleep deprived on a boat surrounded by moving machinery on an unpredictable ocean appeals to a certain type of person, but most will reduce risk if they can.
To that end, a Coast Guard program administered by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) aims to assist by offering $6 million in grants to improve safety in the fishing industry.
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. Itโs 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.
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, itโs hard to imagine youโd be around to read this.
So, letโs 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.
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.
โBy 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 Sundayโs opening of the annual Pacific Marine Expo in Seattle.
A session titled โThrow 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
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 NIOSHโs 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. Johnโs, Newfoundland, with the goal of improving safety and health in the commercial fishing industry through research, innovation, and the exchange of ideas. Thatโs 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 weโve 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.
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.
โI think there is a social stigma against it. Itโs 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.
Todayโs 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.
โIโve 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 โa 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 studyโs time frame. Most falls occurred on the east coast (62), followed by the Gulf of Mexico (60). Alaska ranked third with 51 deaths overall.
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