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Survey of safety at sea issues in Pacific Island artisanal fisheries







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    Technical report
    Report of the FAO/SPC Regional Expert Consultation on Sea Safety in Small Fishing Vessels, Suva, Fiji, 9-13 February 2004 2004
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    In early 2003 FAO undertook a survey on fisheries-related sea safety in the Pacific Islands region. The objective of that work was to consolidate the experience gained by selected countries in safety at sea with a view to improving ongoing and future activities in the region. A major conclusion of the survey was that the majority of loss of life in the Pacific Islands region is associated with small fishing boats which have received the least attention in terms of legislation, construction stan dards, enforcement strategies, regional discussions, training on proper use, and other schemes to improve safety. The report of the survey indicated that many of these issues have facets that involve law, naval architecture, search/rescue, community awareness, maritime administration, fisheries and other fields. FAO and SPC agreed that a meeting attended by motivated people having expertise in these disciplines could have a very positive effect on regional and national sea safety programmes. T he FAO/SPC Regional Expert Consultation on Sea Safety in Small Fishing Vessels held in Suva, Fiji, form 9 to 13 February 2004, was intended to produce this outcome.
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    Manual / guide
    Safety at Sea - Safety Guide for Small Fishing Boats- BOBP/REP/112 2009
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    Fishing is a very dangerous occupation with a high accident risk. Experience has shown that it is often when a fishery develops from traditional sail-powered craft and near shore fishing to motorized craft venturing further out to sea and with new fishing methods that accidents happen. In many developing countries, fibreglass reinforced plastic (FRP) boats are replacing traditional wooden boats and this new construction material requires new thinking when it comes to strength, stability and the ability to keep afloat when swamped. It is often difficult to do something about boats already in operation, but significant safety measures can be incorporated at relatively low cost in boats yet to be built. Close cooperation between the government departments responsible for safety legislation and the boatyards is required. The purpose of this safety guide is to present simple measures to ensure that new boats will satisfy internationally accepted safety standards. The target group c onsists of boat designers, boatbuilders, boat owners, skippers and government officials responsible for drafting new regulations and for safety supervision. This safety guide is not intended to be comprehensive and deal with all kinds of safety issues, but it will highlight the main problems and indicate what practical measures can be taken to avoid them. The guide mainly deals with small boats of less than 15min length, which, from experience are most prone to accidents. The Food and Agricu lture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) are working together to draft new safety recommendations for decked fishing boats of less than 12 m and undecked fishing boats of any length. This work is expected to be finalized by 2010. The present guide is a revision of BOBP/MAG/16: A safety guide for small offshore fishing vessels issued by the Bay of Bengal Programme (BOBP) in 1993. The main chang e is that this publication not only focuses on small offshore fishing boats in the 10-13 m range, but also includes smaller coastal boats. The revision has benefited from recent work regarding the safety of small craft as given below. FAO/SIDA/IMO/BOBP-IGO
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    Manual / guide
    Safety at Sea - A Safety Guide for Small Offshore Fishing Boats - BOBP/MAG/16 1993
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    Small boats, less than 12 m in length, are not used in most countries to fish offshore for large pelagic species. That was the case in Shri Lanka too, upto around 1980. All the fishing there took place in coastal areas during the day or night and fishing trips never lasted more than 12 hours. That is not true any more. About 400 small decked boats of 9-11 m now venture out as far as 200 n miles from shore and stay at sea for upto ten days in search of tuna, shark and billfish The expansion of the offshore fisheries in Shri Lanka was, in many ways, hurriedly done, without the required upgrading of boat technology for boat and crew safety. These fishermen are still facing new challenges and do not have the experience to prevent breakdowns and, worse, losses at sea. The result is a relatively high accidentrate. Every year, an average of eight boats and around 30 men are lost at sea without trace.

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