Our collective thoughts and prayers are with the family and loved ones as we remember:
- Edward Norman, age 67
- Scott Norman, age 35
- Jody Norman, age 42
- Isaac Kettle, age 33
- Aaron Cogswell, age 29
- Leonard Gabriel, age 55
- Daniel Forbes, age 37
- Michael Drake, age 48
- Eugene Francis, age 48
- Charles Roberts, age 58
This list of Atlantic Canadian fish harvesters, lost in 2020 when their fishing vessels sank, is a stark and painful reminder of the risks that fishermen face every day as they head daily to the fishing grounds off our shores.
The annual Navigator safety issue is always a sobering dose of reality as to the ongoing dangers involved with both the inshore and offshore fisheries. Despite improvements in safety equipment and regulatory changes, fish harvesting remains one of the most dangerous occupations in Atlantic Canada. For example, every year, hundreds of Nova Scotians are injured growing, harvesting and processing fish. In 2018, 95 workers were injured in the industry, which works out to 1.6 per cent of total workplace injuries.
Next door, in Newfoundland and Labrador, through the work of the Newfoundland and Labrador Fish Harvesting Safety Association (NL-FHSA) and its safety partners, including employers and workers, the lost-time incidence rate in the fish harvesting industry has decreased 33 per cent in the last decade to 1.8 per 100 workers — yet the rate remains higher than the provincial rate of 1.6.
In fact, the NL-FHSA reports that fish harvesters are 13 times more likely to lose their life at work than any other occupation in Newfoundland and Labrador. The serious injury rate is four times higher than the provincial rate in the fishery and the hearing loss injury rate is twice the provincial rate.
There are no simple solutions to the myriad of complex problems that fish harvesters encounter in this industry, including safety and unfortunately, every year, fishermen die or are severely injured while prosecuting their centuries-old profession.
But even in the face of tragedy, efforts must continue into improving commercial fishing safety.
There is already a lot of good work going on in the region.
The Fisheries Safety Association of Nova Scotia and the Nova Scotia Fisheries Sector Council have been hosting man overboard drills province-wide since 2012, educating fishermen on the importance of onboard safety preparedness. To date, the organizations have carried out more than 200 of the all-important, potentially lifesaving drills around various wharves all across the province, with many more planned once COVID-19 public health restrictions allow.
The NL-FHSA recently announced the beginning of a five-year strategic plan (2021–2025), that will be designed to address emerging issues and existing inherent challenges.
“Implementation of the initiatives will result in improved decision-making and serve to assist fish harvesters in returning safely home to their communities and their families despite the daily adversities they face,” the organization stated.
Over the next five years, the NL-FHSA plans to address workplace safety in the industry through:
- a new fishing vessel safety designate training program,
- improved safe work practices and more education on personal floatation devices,
- emergency distress signals and requirements for vessel and equipment inspections and
- more research on safety hazards in fish harvesting.
Nationally, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) has long sought and advocated to improve commercial fishing safety.
The TSB has been monitoring commercial fishing safety since 1999 and this issue has been on its well-known Watchlist since 2010. Every year, the same safety deficiencies onboard fishing vessels continue to put at risk the lives of thousands of Canadian fish harvesters and the livelihoods of their families and communities.
“Despite various initiatives that have sparked the development of a safety culture within the commercial fishing industry, the same safety deficiencies on board fishing vessels continue to put at risk the lives of thousands of Canadian fish harvesters and affect their families and communities’ well-being,” the TSB stated.
Since 1992, the TSB has made 42 recommendations pertaining to fishing vessel safety, before the issue of fishing safety was added to the Watchlist in 2010. Since the issue was added to the Watchlist, the TSB has made six new recommendations. Of the 48 recommendations, 10 are still active, meaning there is still a lot of work left to do.
In 2012, the TSB released a safety issues investigation on the causes of fatal fishing vessel accidents. The investigation highlighted a number of systemic factors requiring attention, in particular:
- vessel modifications and their impact on stability,
- the lack of, or failure to use, lifesaving equipment, such as personal flotation devices (PFDs), immersion suits and emergency signaling devices,
- unsafe work practices and
- inadequate regulatory oversight.
The TSB has always been blunt on what has to change in order to improve safety in the fishing industry, particularly regarding vessel stability and use of PFDs.
“Safety deficiencies in the fishing industry put at risk the lives of fish harvesters, the efficiency and continuity of their operations and the livelihoods of their families and communities. These risks will remain until concerted and coordinated actions by federal and provincial authorities, industry leaders and safety advocates successfully influence and reinforce changes in behaviours and attitudes. Developing and sustaining a strong safety culture in the fishing industry is required to foster greater compliance with regulations, in particular with respect to vessel stability and the use of life-saving equipment. Addressing these two safety deficiencies would contribute to a significant reduction in the number of fishing-related fatalities given the number of deaths currently associated with falling overboard or stability/capsizing events,” the TSB stated.
The TSB goes on to say that the issue of commercial fishing safety will remain on its Watchlist until there are sufficient indications that a sound safety culture has taken root throughout the industry and in fishing communities across the country, namely:
- Federal and provincial authorities coordinate regulatory oversight of commercial fisheries.
- Transport Canada, provincial workplace safety authorities and harvester associations promote existing user-friendly guidelines on vessel stability designed to reduce unsafe practices.
- Spurred by the leadership of industry and safety advocates, there is marked and widespread evidence that harvesters are taking ownership of safety, specifically with respect to the use of stability guidelines, PFDs, immersion suits, emergency signaling devices and safe work practices.
