Commercial fisheries are a hazardous occupation. Every day, hundreds of fishers are injured and more than 80 fishers die while involved in fishing operations. Drowning is the main cause of fatalities in the sector, especially among small-scale fishers. Thousands of fishers drown every year: falling overboard, being caught under capsized fishing vessels or being pulled overboard by fishing gear are among the most common causes of drowning.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is one of the first organizations that answered to the call to mark World Drowning Prevention Day.
Over the years, FAO has been taking a comprehensive approach to fishing safety, with a focus on capacity development, codes of practice, fishing safety regulations and management, the promotion of use of personal flotation devices and other safety equipment, design and construction of safer vessels (including stability, repair and maintenance) and by promoting fisheries insurance services.
“We are excited to mark another World Drowning Prevention Day. It is a day that we can work together with WHO to raise awareness on drowning, especially in the fishing industry,” said Ms Florence Poulain, Fishing safety officer of FAO. “FAO works with countries and partners to promote a safety culture in the industry, and we look forward to join forces to make that message even louder.”
Many injuries occur in small-scale fisheries. In some regions, small-scale fishers are not carrying safety equipment on board. Few fishers are wearing life jackets. Many small-scale fishing vessels do not have essential communication and emergency messaging equipment to reach emergency support in case of need.
FAO is working with government counterparts to jointly rollout a train-the-trainer course on safety at sea for small scale fisheries. The train the trainers’ courses were implemented with 6 countries in the Caribbean region, 4 countries in the Pacific islands’ region, 4 countries in East Africa and virtually in the Near East and Central Asian regions and will soon be delivered in Sri Lanka and the Philippines.
“Drowning is a multi-sectoral problem and drowning deaths among fishers is a clear illustration of this. Making fishing safer for fisherfolk is an important contribution to addressing the global drowning problem.” said Dr David Meddings, Technical Lead for Drowning Prevention at WHO. “WHO is establishing a global alliance on drowning prevention. We look forward to working with FAO and other organizations to improve coordination, collaboration and accelerate drowning prevention efforts at global, regional and national levels.”
FAO works with the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and other relevant international and regional partners on promoting safety and decent work in fisheries.
More information about FAO’s work on fishing safety can be found at: https://www.fao.org/fishing-safety/en/