Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Occupational and Environmental Medicine logoLink to Occupational and Environmental Medicine
. 2004 Jan;61(1):16–23.

Occupational mortality in British commercial fishing, 1976–95

S Roberts 1
PMCID: PMC1757794  PMID: 14691268

Abstract

Aims: To establish the causes and circumstances of all deaths occurring at work or related to work among fishermen in British commercial fishing between 1976 and 1995.

Methods: A retrospective study, based on official mortality files, with a population of 440 355 fishermen-years at risk.

Results: Of 616 deaths in British fishing, 454 (74%) were due to accidents at work, and 394 (87%) of these fishermen drowned. A total of 270 accidents were caused by casualties to vessels and 184 by personal accidents. There was no significant decline in the fatal accident rate, 103.1 per 100 000 fishermen-years, between 1976 and 1995. The fatal accident rate was 52.4 times higher (95% CI 42.9 to 63.8) than for all workers in Great Britain during the same period, and this relative risk increased through the 1980s up to 76.6 during 1991–95. Relative risks with the construction (12.3) and manufacturing (46.0) industries were higher than 5 and 20 respectively, during 1959–68. Trawlers foundering in adverse weather was the most frequent cause of mortality from casualties to vessels (115 deaths), and 82 of 145 personal accidents at sea arose during operations involving trawling nets.

Conclusions: When compared with shore based industries, fishing remains at least as hazardous as before. Prevention should be aimed, most importantly, at the unnecessary operation of small vessels and trawling net manoeuvres in hazardous weather and sea conditions. Other measures should focus on preventing falls overboard, reducing fatigue, a more widespread use of personal flotation devices, and improvements in weather forecast evaluation.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (257.8 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Driscoll T. R., Ansari G., Harrison J. E., Frommer M. S., Ruck E. A. Traumatic work related fatalities in commercial fishermen in Australia. Occup Environ Med. 1994 Sep;51(9):612–616. doi: 10.1136/oem.51.9.612. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Hansen H. L. Surveillance of deaths on board Danish merchant ships, 1986-93: implications for prevention. Occup Environ Med. 1996 Apr;53(4):269–275. doi: 10.1136/oem.53.4.269. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Hasselback P., Neutel C. I. Risk for commercial fishing deaths in Canadian Atlantic provinces. Br J Ind Med. 1990 Jul;47(7):498–501. doi: 10.1136/oem.47.7.498. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Jaremin B., Kotulak E., Starnawska M. Comparative study of the death during sea voyages among Polish seamen and deep-sea and boat fishermen. Bull Inst Marit Trop Med Gdynia. 1997;48(1-4):5–22. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Jensen O. C., Christensen S., Larsen S., Soerensen L. Occupational injuries among fishermen. Bull Inst Marit Trop Med Gdynia. 1996;47(1-4):11–18. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Jensen O. C. Health hazards while fishing in heavy weather. Occup Environ Med. 1997 Feb;54(2):141–141. doi: 10.1136/oem.54.2.141. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Lincoln J. M., Conway G. A. Preventing commercial fishing deaths in Alaska. Occup Environ Med. 1999 Oct;56(10):691–695. doi: 10.1136/oem.56.10.691. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Mastrangelo G., Malusa E., Veronese C., Zucchero A., Marzia V., Boscolo Bariga A. Mortality from lung cancer and other diseases related to smoking among fishermen in north east Italy. Occup Environ Med. 1995 Mar;52(3):150–153. doi: 10.1136/oem.52.3.150. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Norrish A. E., Cryer P. C. Work related injury in New Zealand commercial fishermen. Br J Ind Med. 1990 Nov;47(11):726–732. doi: 10.1136/oem.47.11.726. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Rafnsson V., Gunnarsdóttir H. Fatal accidents among Icelandic seamen: 1966-86. Br J Ind Med. 1992 Oct;49(10):694–699. doi: 10.1136/oem.49.10.694. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Reilly M. S. Mortality from occupational accidents to United Kingdom fishermen 1961-80. Br J Ind Med. 1985 Dec;42(12):806–814. doi: 10.1136/oem.42.12.806. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Roberts Stephen E. Hazardous occupations in Great Britain. Lancet. 2002 Aug 17;360(9332):543–544. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(02)09708-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Schilling R. S. Hazards of deep-sea fishing. Br J Ind Med. 1971 Jan;28(1):27–35. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Schilling R. S. Trawler fishing: an extreme occupation. Proc R Soc Med. 1966 May;59(5):405–410. doi: 10.1177/003591576605900504. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Schnitzer P. G., Landen D. D., Russell J. C. Occupational injury deaths in Alaska's fishing industry, 1980 through 1988. Am J Public Health. 1993 May;83(5):685–688. doi: 10.2105/ajph.83.5.685. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Thomas T. K., Lincoln J. M., Husberg B. J., Conway G. A. Is it safe on deck? Fatal and non-fatal workplace injuries among Alaskan commercial fishermen. Am J Ind Med. 2001 Dec;40(6):693–702. doi: 10.1002/ajim.10010. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Tomaszewski R., Dymnicki P., Flasiński J., Kliz J., Skwarło B., Kapiszka T., Sokołowski A., Goljan J., Winnicka A. Studies on the risk of ischaemic heart disease in fishermen, seafarers and dockers. Bull Inst Marit Trop Med Gdynia. 1990;41(1-4):21–26. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Occupational and Environmental Medicine are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES