Last updated: 25 October, 2024 @ 08:27
Ever wonder about the men and women out in all hours – and all conditions – behind that lovely piece of cod, hake, turbot, monkfish… on your plate?
The answer is, probably not – but maybe you should after a recent report by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation World Risk Poll named fishing as the world’s most dangerous occupation.
‘Worrying figures’
The report, Engineering safer workplaces: Global trends in occupational safety and health, says that 26% of fishers surveyed had been harmed on the job in the last two years.
The data also shows that 73% have never received any safety training – making fishing an industry with one of the lowest rates of training in the world.
The data was gathered by global analytics firm Gallup, which conducted 147,000 interviews in 142 countries and territories around the world.
The report says that one potential explanation for the worrying figures is that like other ‘riskier’ industries, such as construction and mining, fishing skews heavily towards demographics that were found to be more at risk of harm regardless of their occupation, such as those in more precarious financial situations.
‘Fishing a dangerous occupation’
Dr Daryl Attwood, senior programme manager at Lloyd’s Register Foundation, said: “Fishing’s reputation as a dangerous occupation is well-known – but sufficient mitigative actions are obviously well overdue.
“International regulations provide an important framework for countries and businesses, but these can only go so far, especially for fishers in low-income countries who may believe their only option is to ‘fish today’, regardless of safety.
“Providing regular, tailored training, along with basic safety equipment, must be near the top of agendas everywhere.”
Two fishermen died
In the UK, the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) investigates accidents involving UK ships, including fishing vessels.
Its annual report for 2023, published in October 2024, states that a total of 102 accidents on fishing vessels were reported to the MAIB, two of which led to the death of fishermen.
However, writing in his introduction to the report, Captain Andrew Moll OBE, chief inspector of marine accidents, said: “I am concerned that there is significant under-reporting of fishing vessel accidents.
“Twice in the last year, the branch has been contacted by lawyers supporting fishers pursuing personal injury claims, but we have found no record of their accident. In both cases the injuries were significant, would have required hospital treatment, and the individuals had to give up their career in fishing.
“These were reportable accidents, and that they were ‘hidden’ speaks volumes about the safety culture on the vessels involved.”
It also speaks volumes about the dangers fishers face – and all to put seafood on our plates.
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