Commercial fishing vessels have the highest death rate of any industry in the United States. The British Maritime & Coastguard Agency has a new publication titled “FISHERMAN’S SAFETY GUIDE – A guide to safe working practices and emergency procedures for fishermen”. Following the procedures in this type of a publication can make U.S. fishing vessels safer.

This safety publication covers topics such as:

Before leaving –

• Checking equipment
• Electrical installations
• Emergency drills
• Lifesaving equipment
• Maintenance work
• Weather information

At Sea –

• Fire
• Galley
• Flooding
• Machinery
• Ropes and lines
• Stability
• Navigational safety
• Watchkeeping

Emergencies

• Man overboard
• Abandon ship

The guide can be downloaded at this link.

I highly recommend this guide, the Commercial Fishing Vessel Safety Digest published by AMSEA, and the Small Fishing Vessel Safety Manual published by the Government of Canada for all commercial fishing vessel owners and their crew.

Training can save your life.

Personally, I think it would be a great project for cadets at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy to develop an APP for handheld devices that would combine all of these publications into a single training guide with quizzes for the crew of fishing vessels.