Overview

Fishing is one of the most hazardous occupations in the world. Fishing accident and fatality reporting has been on the agenda of the international community for more than four decades, but limited progress has been realized until now, especially in the absence of mandatory fishing vessels safety-related conventions in force. Without reliable data and information, fishing safety shortcomings are difficult to identify and maritime safety strategies cannot be implemented effectively.

Reliable data can assist countries in identifying the costs associated with the prevention of fishing accidents and whether resources currently committed to maritime safety are being used effectively and efficiently with regard to the fishing activities. Reliable data can also enable the identification of causes of accidents and the development and implementation of targeted awareness raising and capacity building programmes on safety at sea in the fishing sector. It could also then be used to better inform rule-making processes and to develop implementation support and safety enforcement actions.

The need for a global fishing accident reporting system and database has long been recognised.

In 2009 the FAO took the first major step in this quest and contracted SSPA Sweden to investigate and produce a set of “Guidelines for Accident Reporting and Analysis Systems for Small Fishing Vessels”. This was followed up in 2011 by the first ‘test’ of the Guidelines referred to above. See the RFLP “Final Report from the Implementation of Accident Reporting Systems in Cambodia, Indonesia and Timor-Leste”.

Further work was done in this area, resulting in the 2015 FAO “Technical Guidelines for Responsible Fisheries No.1 Supplement 3 Fishing Operations: Best Practices to improve Safety at Sea in the Fisheries Sector.”

And in 2019, the FISH Safety Foundation was contracted by the FAO to develop an Accident Reporting System for the Caribbean small-scale fisheries. The FISHER Project was a continuation and significant expansion on their original work.

In support of the ongoing development of the Project, a Letter of Intent was signed between the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Lloyd’s Register Foundation (LRF), the Pew Charitable Trusts (Pew) and the FISH Safety Foundation (FSF).

This global initiative is unanimously welcomed and supported by the IMO and FAO as the United Nations Agencies actively involved with fishing activities. We thank them for their expressed strong interest. We also wish to acknowledge and thank LRF and Pew for their invaluable ongoing assistance and support of the Project during this development phase.

Despite the adoption of a range of resolutions and other instruments, the number of public and private maritime actors that manage to consistently collect data on fishing accidents and fatalities is low and a lack of cooperation, coordination and harmonization may ultimately be detrimental in the quest to improve safety in the industry.

The ILO Work in Fishing Convention 2007, (C188), requires that “Each Member shall adopt laws, regulations or other measures concerning the reporting and investigation of accidents on board fishing vessels flying its flag”. According to the applicable provisions of the IMO Cape Town Agreement (CTA) of 2012 and the Torremolinos Protocol of 1993” Each Party shall arrange for an investigation of any casualty occurring to any of its vessels subject to the provisions of the present Protocol, when it judges that such an investigation may assist in determining what changes in the present Protocol might be desirable. Each Party shall supply the Organization [IMO] with pertinent information concerning the findings of such investigations for circulation to all Parties, […]”.

The FAO has worked to promote safety at sea in the fisheries sector through, among other initiatives, the implementation of its 1995 Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, the 2009 FAO Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA), and the 2015 Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries. The FAO, ILO and IMO have also cooperated to issue Guidelines to assist competent authorities in the implementation of Part B of the Code of Safety for Fishermen and Fishing Vessels, and the Voluntary guidelines for the design, construction and equipment of small fishing vessels and the Safety recommendations for decked fishing vessels of less than 12metres in length and undecked fishing vessels. The need for reporting is outlined in many of these instruments.

Despite the adoption of a range of resolutions and other instruments, the number of public and private maritime actors that manage to consistently collect data on fishing accidents and fatalities is low. There is also a lack of cooperation, coordination and harmonization with regards to this data, and this is ultimately detrimental in the quest to improve safety in the industry.

The current fragmented approach to fishing accident data collection includes the following :

The ILO Work in Fishing Convention 2007, (C188), requires that “Each Member shall adopt laws, regulations or other measures concerning the reporting and investigation of accidents on board fishing vessels flying its flag”. The problem is that only 21 countries are signatory to the Convention, and thus involvement is limited.

The IMO Cape Town Agreement (CTA) of 2012 (and the Torremolinos Protocol of 1993) requires that “each Party shall arrange for an investigation of any casualty occurring to any of its vessels subject to the provisions of the present Protocol, when it judges that such an investigation may assist in determining what changes in the present Protocol might be desirable. Each Party shall supply the Organization [IMO] with pertinent information concerning the findings of such investigations for circulation to all Parties, […]”. Here the emphasis appears to be on potential changes to the CTA, rather than on learning from accidents.

The FAO has worked to promote safety at sea in the fisheries sector through, among other initiatives, the implementation of its 1995 Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, the 2009 FAO Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA), and the 2015 Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries. The FAO, ILO and IMO have also cooperated to issue Guidelines to assist competent authorities in the implementation of Part B of the Code of Safety for Fishermen and Fishing Vessels, and the Voluntary guidelines for the design, construction and equipment of small fishing vessels and the Safety recommendations for decked fishing vessels of less than 12metres in length and undecked fishing vessels. The need for reporting is outlined in many of these instruments.

Ultimately though, there is no global legislative requirement for fishers / operators to report accidents to their local Competent Authority, and there is in turn no legal requirement by the Competent Authorities to report these accidents to the IMO, FAO or ILO.

The FISH Safety Foundation (FSF) is a New Zealand-based international not-for-profit organisation promoting health, safety and sustainable development in all sectors of global fishing – marine capture, inland fisheries and aquaculture.

Their focus has been on developing educational and training material, working with governments and communities on-the-ground, and developing legislative frameworks for countries. FSF has worked closely with the FAO, IMO and independent funders like the Pew Charitable Trusts.

Their projects aren’t exclusively technical in scope – rather they approach interventions primarily from a social development perspective. By focusing on education and other activities to help keep fishers safe and well, they ensure their ability to continue contributing positively to their families, communities and to enhance general social development. Central to all these interventions are their adherence to and promotion of the relevant UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – in our case: SDG’s 1, 2, 3, 8 and 14.

Their work in fishing safety includes a focus on related issues like the Human Rights of fishers, stopping IUU fishing, reducing marine pollution, supporting small-scale fishing, and promoting the sustainable use of the world’s oceans.