On September 5, 2015, the fishing vessel Caledonian capsized 20 nautical miles west of Nootka Sound, British Columbia.
At the time, the vessel was trawling for hake with four crew members onboard. Following the capsizing, the master and mate climbed onto the overturned hull and remained there for several hours.
When the vessel eventually sank, the master and mate abandoned it and the mate swam toward and boarded the life raft. The Canadian Coast Guard subsequently rescued the mate and recovered the bodies of the master and the two other crew members.
The preceding paragraphs comprised the opening of yet another tragic, fatal, fishing industry investigation report from the Transportation Safety Board (TSB).
The specific circumstances might vary from incident to incident, but in most cases, the TSB’s findings into fatal fishing accidents almost play out like a broken record.
Fishermen often operate in harsh physical and environmental conditions. They harvest, load, transfer and store their catch while the vessel is in various sea conditions and the risk of going overboard is high. If a fisherman ends up in the water, the consequences can be fatal.
The TSB has determined that approximately 70 per cent of all fishing-related fatalities result from not using a personal flotation device (PFD).
TSB investigations have shown that wearing a PFD increases the chance of surviving a man overboard situation and the tragic incident involving the Caledonian is yet another example, where the mate, who was the only one wearing a PFD, survived.
If you wear a PFD while working on the deck of a fishing vessel, it might save your life. Seems like a rational enough argument but it is still far from getting traction.
So, what is the problem?
Onlookers might be quick to point the finger at the attitudes of fishermen, who simply refuse to be inconvenienced on deck by wearing a PFD. And there could be some truth to that.
But ultimately, this is a regulatory issue, or lack thereof.
In February 2012, the Quebec Government’s regulatory safety body, the Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CSST), made it compulsory for lobster fishermen to wear PFDs at all times. Recently, the CSST has sent letters to all masters on lobster fishing vessels explaining the regulation as it pertains to the mandatory use of lifejackets or PFDs onboard fishing vessels and the CSST has conducted 150 vessel visits to ensure compliance.
However, apart from the CSST, neither Transport Canada (TC) or any other provincial workplace safety regulator has requirements to ensure that fishermen wear PFDs at all times.
“Those requirements that do exist place the onus on fishing vessel masters to determine whether or not a risk is present and to decide if PFDs should be worn. Not only is this assessment of risk subjective, but it also assumes that crew members are in a position to recognize when risk is present and have the time available to don a PFD or other flotation device.
Despite risk-based regulations and industry initiatives to change behaviours and create awareness about the importance of wearing PFDs, as well as design improvements by PFD manufacturers to address fishermen’s concerns about comfort and constant wear, there has not been a significant change in the behaviour of fishermen and many continue to work on deck without wearing a PFD. The TSB believes that the implementation of explicit requirements for fishermen to wear PFDs, along with appropriate education and enforcement measures, will significantly reduce the loss of life associated with going overboard,” the TSB has stated multiple times.
As a result, the TSB continues to recommend that TC require everyone to wear suitable personal flotation devices at all times when on the deck of a commercial fishing vessel, or when onboard a commercial fishing vessel without a deck or deck structure and that TC ensure programs are developed to confirm compliance.
This approach makes all the sense in the world. So, what is the disconnect with TC not moving forward on the TSB’s recommendation?
On March 19, 2018, TC released this response to the TSB’s investigation report on the 2015 accident in Nootka Sound, involving the fishing vessel Caledonian.
“Transport Canada disagrees with the recommendation to have prescriptive regulatory requirements for persons to wear personal flotation devices and disagrees with the recommendation to have programs developed to ensure compliance. TC promotes and encourages the wearing of personal flotation devices or lifejackets through educational initiatives to increase awareness of their importance in reducing loss of life, and through continuing to work with stakeholders and industry on new standards for more wearable flotation devices.”
Such initiatives include:
- Promoting and supporting innovative performance-based standards for more wearable lifejackets. This initiative began with the development of the Canadian Lifejacket Standard and continues with TC’s support of the new bi-national North American lifejacket standard, which will include increased design options for manufacturers to provide more comfortable and wearable devices.
- Ship Safety Bulletin 06/2012, Wearing and Using Flotation Devices, Small Non-Pleasure Craft & Small Commercial Fishing Vessels which allows, in certain situations, the use of more wearable flotation devices in lieu of traditional lifejackets designed for ship abandonment. The Ship Safety Bulletin requires that where this option is used, personal flotation devices must be worn by crew on deck at all times.
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“TC has consulted extensively with the fishing industry and has determined that education and awareness on the wearing of PFDs or lifejackets is the most effective approach and will result in a reduction of fatalities. The TC compliance and inspection regime is established to verify regulatory compliance while vessels are in port. Only seafarers themselves can ensure compliance while vessels are at sea. It is the Authorized Representative’s (AR) responsibility to develop safe operating procedures and confirm compliance onboard the vessel. The new Fishing Vessel Safety Regulations require that no person shall operate, or permit another person to operate, a fishing vessel in environmental conditions or circumstances that could jeopardize the safety of persons onboard unless a lifejacket or PFD is worn by all persons onboard, in the case of a fishing vessel that has no deck or deck structure, or by all persons on the deck or in the cockpit, in the case of a fishing vessel that has a deck or deck structure.”
Does this logic really make practical sense? Sure, every fisherman is ultimately responsible for taking measures to ensure they can do their job safely, but why the pushback to enforce this from a regulatory standpoint? It makes no sense and the TSB seems to agree.
“Transport Canada does not agree with this recommendation, suggesting that a requirement to wear a PFD at all times could not be enforced by TC and that only seafarers themselves can ensure compliance. Further, TC’s response focuses on actions already taken to promote and encourage educational initiatives to increase awareness of the importance of wearing a PFD and on its continued work with stakeholders and industry regarding new standards for more wearable flotation devices.”
Since 2007, there have been more than 100 fishing-related fatalities, and approximately 80 per cent of those fatalities resulted from fishermen ending up in the water for a number of reasons, including falling overboard and stability issues. And the problem is not improving.
The TSB reports that it has not seen an improvement in fishing-related fatalities when comparing the two five-year periods, from 2007 to 2011 and 2012 to 2016. Therefore, despite TC’s risk-based requirement to wear a PFD for operations on a fishing vessel, initiatives to change behaviour and recent PFD design improvements, the TSB is concerned that there has not been a significant change in the behaviour of fishermen and many continue to work on deck without wearing a PFD.
So, what is the next step to curbing this tragic situation? Regulations need to improve and be enforced — lives are hanging in the balance.
