COMMERCIAL FISHING SAFETY

Vessel Disasters

Vessel disasters are the leading cause of fatalities among commercial fishermen accounting for 50% of fatalities nationwide during 2000-2014. However, NIOSH has conducted research into the prevention of vessel disasters through fisheries management policies and engineering interventions.

Surviving a Vessel Disaster

Most of the current safety regulations in the commercial fishing industry are designed to improve survival after a vessel disaster has occurred. Beginning with the passing of the Commercial Fishing Industry Vessel Safety Act (CFIVSA) in 1988, the United States Coast Guard was granted the authority to develop basic lifesaving regulations for commercial fishing vessels, including requirements to carry emergency equipment such as life rafts and immersion suits.

NIOSH evaluated the impact of CFIVSA on fatalities in Alaska and found that the safety requirements contributed to 94% of the commercial fishermen surviving vessel disasters during 1997-1999, in comparison to a 77% survival rate in 1991-1993. For more details on these findings please refer to the published reports, "Preventing commercial fishing deaths in Alaska" and “Improving Safety in the Alaskan Commercial Fishing Industry."

NIOSH has also evaluated the effectiveness of emergency equipment and survival training required by U.S. Coast Guard regulations. The results show that victims who died were 7 times more likely not to have worn an immersion suit and 15 times more likely not to have used a life raft. This study supports immersion suits and life rafts in saving lives and the need for training and enforcement of the use of this type of equipment.

NIOSH recommends taking a safety training class to provide you and your crew with the skills and equipment necessary to react to an emergency at sea and increase the likelihood of preventing or surviving a vessel disaster.

Preventing Vessel Disasters

Fisheries Management

Fishery management policies have been successfully implemented in Alaska as a way to improve the safety of commercial fishing vessels. NIOSH has evaluated the impact of the halibut/sablefish individual fishing quota program. Safety policies have also been developed by the U.S. Coast Guard for the Bering Sea and Aleutian Island (BSAI) crab fleet. Most recently, NIOSH conducted a review of the U.S. Coast Guard Alternative Compliance Safety Agreement program to verify that these new risk-based safety programs are effective in reducing injuries and fatalities among the targeted fisheries.

Engineering Solution

In addition to addressing vessel disasters through policy changes, NIOSH is also working to prevent the main initiating events of vessel disasters through the development of engineering controls. Current projects include studying vessel stability issues by developing hatch and door monitoring systems and multi-level flood sensors to prevent and monitor vessel flooding.