In general, it seems that countries without large-scale fisheries pay more formal attention to small-scale fisheries than some of the fishing leviathans.

While, for example, United States regulations hardly touch small-scale fisheries and Japan’s regulations cover boats only down to some 8 m in length, Barbados’s Fisheries Act specifies mandatory safety equipment for three classes of fishing boats: less than 6 m LOA, 5-12 m LOA and 12-20 m LOA. Grenada’s Statutory Rules provide for mandatory safety equipment for fishing boats of both less and more than 28 ft (8.54 M). Senegal’s Code of Conduct prescribes equipment, skippers’ examinations/certification and annual inspections. Israel specifies mandatory safety equipment and requires inspections for fishing boats under 7 m, as well as 7-24 m, in length.

A wider survey would probably discover more countries that have legislated safety rules covering small-scale fishermen and their boats, but the general picture would still remain grim. Even where fishing licences are mandatory, they are not always stipulated by seaworthiness certificates, safety equipment inspection, and personnel training and certification.

Unquestionably, the great majority of the world’s small-scale fishermen have been left to their own design and means, as far as their safety at sea and on the beach goes, with reasonable to good SAR services only in developed countries.

In some countries, safety legislation is subject to political "anti-regulation" pressure, as well as to official opposition based on implementation difficulties. On the other hand, in some countries any insurance of fishing boats and crews is stipulated by valid seaworthiness and safety equipment certification and the presence on board of certified personnel. Thus, on a global scale and especially in countries where tens or even hundreds of thousands of active fishermen support small-scale fisheries, their safety is only to a limited extent taken care of by legislation and enforcement.

Even if regulations prescribe mandatory boat and equipment inspections, enforcement is often ineffective. One reason is corruption, as regulation simply means that fishermen have to pay their way out of inspections or examinations. Another reason is that in many places fishermen can hardly afford to acquire the safety equipment prescribed. The way out is to cheat by borrowing equipment just for the inspection. It appears that there are only a few countries, worldwide, where the various aspects of safety of small-scale fishermen are effectively regulated and the regulations effectively enforced.

Two basic types of SAR services are relevant to small-scale fisheries:

Fishermen in trouble at sea, however, are mostly found and rescued by their fellow fishermen, not only because of traditional (and logical) solidarity – I help you today, you help me tomorrow – but also because in most cases small-scale fishermen fish while in visual or other contact with others. This is why such contact among small fishing boats is so important for their safety and where it exists, whether through radio, or by agreed visual signals, the rate of fatalities is significantly less than otherwise.

None the less, external aid is often called for in emergencies, and saving lives and boats depends on the availability and efficiency of the SAR services.

Unfortunately, among most developing small-scale fisheries, where the majority of the millions of small-scale fishermen are found, SAR services are usually fairly ineffective, if they exist at all. Therefore, any international or NGO activities aimed at improving existing national SAR services are extremely important (see Short case-study 3: Micronesia) and highly recommendable where SAR services are lacking.

Cyclone, typhoon or hurricane warning systems, even those based on the latest technology, are only partly useful in saving fishermen’s lives if the warnings do not reach the people at sea and on the beaches, and if the people have no trust in the system or its messengers. Unfortunately, both conditions applied to some degree during the deadly cyclone that hit Kerala, India, in 1996 and were partly responsible for the huge death toll (see section 3.2.1 and Short case-study 2: India).

The Marine Department in India and an NGO commissioned a study that concluded that education in precautionary measures and provision of the means for delivering messages of cyclone warnings at sea would save lives and vessels. Therefore, FAO’s initiatives in the West Indies and the Bay of Bengal, both potential trouble areas for hurricanes and cyclones, respectively, are of utmost importance, because they focus on education and training on the one hand, and on finding technical solutions for improving the delivery of warnings on the other.

However, in areas prone to strong storms, and often flooding, warnings alone and even bringing all fishing vessels to the shore in time, do not save fishermen and their boats. Experience teaches us that the evacuation of whole populations further inland is rarely feasible and that effective storm shelters of whatever form are seldom available in sufficient capacity in the coastal areas where rural fishermen dwell predominantly in destructible houses (P. Calvert, 1998; R. Ramachandran (press report); J. Turner, personal com.).

The actual state of safety in small-scale fisheries worldwide ranges from unsatisfactory (in most developed countries) to miserable (in most developing countries). Without doubt, in view of the magnitude of the problem and its tragic ramifications, too little is being done to correct this situation anywhere.

In developed countries, where weather warnings, communication and SAR services are effective, boats and engines relatively safe and reliable, and all the necessary technology accessible, most small-scale fishermen are incomparably better off safety-wise than their fishing peers in developing countries. However, in some countries this situation could be compared with having modern, fast cars and motorcycles that are unlicensed, whose brakes are not regularly checked, safety belts and lights are faulty or missing, etc., and some of them driven around by people without sufficient training or experience. Many modern small-scale fishing vessels have many features of the larger ones, including relatively heavy engines and large fish cargo capacity that make them sinkable as soon as they capsize or take on large volumes of water. This is a waste of human lives, as boats’ staying afloat after accidents has saved hundreds of lives (see Short case-study 4: Colombia).

In developing countries, SAR is still a painful issue. There is too little concern with fishermen’s safety and the provision of effective SAR services. The causes are numerous and include:

The extent of official interest in fishermen’s safety depends not only on national priorities and political will, but also on local capacity to deal with the issue. Even in countries where the level of science and technology is high enough to establish sophisticated, satellite-linked weather forecasting services and modern navies and air forces, SAR services at their fishing clients’ end are still a far cry from the level of the former.

This can be compared to the gap between nuclear and military capacities of some countries and the standard of living of their rural and poorer urban population. Public and press interest is low and official statistics under-reported about fishermen who do not return from a trip. Loss of fishing craft and people at sea is not news, except in the immediate communities of the missing ones, or when the dead become newsworthy because of their huge numbers.

Fishermen in most countries are politically weak and have neither the political clout nor the lobbying power to influence the authorities to invest money and effort to improve their safety. Usually, also, they are preoccupied with their daily struggle for survival and if they were to take political action it would be aimed at their immediate economic problems. Informal SAR can be found in some areas among fishermen; additionally, where NGOs are active, awareness of the problem grows and survival chances may increase.

A substantial reduction of the death rate is achievable if safety legislation and activities are enhanced. Two basic strategies are possible, with regulators, administrators and enforcers focusing on one or both of the following, depending on local circumstances:

The first has to do with SAR, safety equipment on board, safety at sea communication systems, and skipper and crew performance in an emergency.

The second is mainly about boat design and construction quality, stability, training and licensing of personnel and weather warning systems, as well as reduction (and elimination) of the many fishery management-induced and other financial incentives to take risks. This can be reinforced by enforcement of mandatory insurance stipulating seaworthiness tests and equipment inspections.

It is strongly recommended that design and construction standards for small-scale fishing craft, sponsored by international and intergovernmental bodies, are elaborated and put at the disposal of all nations (see section 10.13).

Those countries without their own could use them as the basis for their own regulations and enforcement. Most of the classification societies have set their own rules for materials and construction of small craft; these could be considered in preparing national, regional and international standards.

Even where artisanal craft are locally built using traditional design and construction methods, improvements can be introduced without changing the overall character of the craft. Small improvements, such as using bolts instead of nails, would contribute to the vessel’s reliability. While preparing international standards, regional and even national conditions must be taken into consideration and the necessary elements incorporated. For artisanal and other small fishing craft, for example, buoyancy on capsizing or flooding and, if possible, righting the boat by the crew in the water are important. If necessary, plastic foam buoyancy blocks should be fitted in appropriate spaces.

The economic situation of fishermen, availability of materials and general technological level and infrastructure must be taken into consideration. In all cases the term "construction" should also include "design" and cover such aspects as watertight integrity, freeboard, stability, and performance in waves and surf.

The special conditions of fishing vessels’ operation should not be overlooked. Stability calculations and tests, especially for double-rigged trawling boats and purse-seiners, must consider the probable pulls applied during hauling at the outriggers’ and davits’ ends, and on power blocks, as well as the effect of the resulting forces combined with the vessel’s rolling. The same is also true for artisanal boats, even with manually operated haulers.

Designers and inspectors should insist where necessary on providing "weak-link" elements in the rigging or the fishing gear that would break when the pulls rise to dangerous levels. Boats built or modified to such standards combined with inspection and enforcement will benefit fishermen – both through better safety at sea, and through improving their capacity to obtain credit and insurance. Also, better designed boats provide better working and living conditions alongside more efficient fishing operations, including fuel economy, that should result in better earnings.

The US Coast Guard has published an advice sheet for all commercial fishermen. Rules quoted below are also valid for small-scale fishermen, especially those operating decked boats in the 8-12 m LOA range:

It is strongly recommended that guides are produced (or reproduced) and distributed. These would assist those boat builders who have no formal training in the construction of seaworthy and reliable small-scale craft in various materials.

Some guides have already been published, for example, by FAO and FAO-associated field projects. They should be updated if necessary and reprinted. FAO would be able to distribute them through its field programmes and country representatives (Coackley, 1991; Fyson, 1980, 1985; Gulbrandsen, 1992; Gulbrandsen and Pajot, 1993; Mutton, 1982; Reinhart, 1975; Riley and Turner, 1995; J. Turner, K. Codel, personal coms.).

Emergency and survival equipment should be obligatory on board small-scale fishing craft, with its amount, cost and character fitting the type, earnings and capacity of the boat.

For example, there is no point in compelling buoyant craft, such as African canoes, Indian kattumarams, Brazilian janghadas or Israeli khassakas to carry life-rafts.

A boat of whatever size should carry:

If a boat can be rowed:

A magnetic compass should be carried in all boats fishing at a distance exceeding 1 n.m. offshore.

Small craft powered by petrol-driven outboard motors should carry all their fuel in extra original outboard-motor fuel tanks and avoid keeping it in larger containers and pouring it into the tanks at sea.

Decked small-scale vessels, larger than 7-8 m in length, should be equipped with hand and mechanical bilge pumps, fire extinguishers and standard navigation lights, and carry additional equipment, such as a small life-raft (if boat not buoyant), a light-buoy and other light and smoke signals.

A buoy with a radar reflector would be desirable in areas where SAR units are equipped with radars and in areas of shipping traffic. Where SAR services have radio location capacity, EPIRBs are desirable and where economically feasible, should be made obligatory.

Additionally, the following procedure should be followed prior to departure where modern life-saving equipment is available:

Valuable recommendations for small, decked boats that suit conditions in many developing countries are covered by Gulbrandsen’s and Pajot’s Safety at sea manual (Gulbrandsen, 1992; Gulbrandsen and Pajot, 1993).

These aspects of the safety issue can be dealt with through the transfer of know-how and survival technology, education, training and financial assistance. In developing countries this appears to be a particularly wide field for international initiatives and intergovernmental cooperation (see section 10.13).

Effective warning and communication systems and SAR, self-evident in developed countries, are rare in many developing country fisheries. Therefore, educational and training efforts are of utmost importance.

Internationally initiated and locally executed courses, seminars and workshops ought to be supported within bilateral and multilateral frameworks. One way for this could be itinerant, regionally adapted courses, well equipped with aids and models, including simulation equipment, which would move among countries and train trainers, SAR activists, extensionists and skippers (see section 10.10).

Additionally, a special project might be jointly sponsored by ILO, IMO, FAO and international donors to prepare popular, well-illustrated guides or manuals on accident prevention and safety at sea for artisanal fisheries.

Such popular or pocket manuals might follow the style and approach of the FAO "Pop Manuals" in the fishing training series, and should be translated into relevant languages and distributed to governments and programmes dealing with safety at sea.

The Fishermen’s safety manual issued by the Fisheries Association of British Columbia provides useful guidelines for life-saving and survival in water. The Document for guidance on fishermen’s training and certification prepared jointly by FAO, ILO and IMO comprises a short (rather too short) section on small fishing boats.

In developed countries as well, education and training of fishermen in precautionary safety measures, correct use of life-saving equipment, and other safety-related activities should be developed, especially where such training is not mandatory.

Therefore, governments should be encouraged to undertake educational programmes through, e.g. courses and workshops and itinerant training units (see section 3.3.6).

McCoy (1991) gives some relevant suggestions and guidelines (FAO/ILO/IMO, 1988; Ben-Yami, 1987; Safety Committee, 1972; Safety Liaison Working Group, 1997; K. Codel, personal com.).

Since fishermen may listen to news and music radio programmes, weather warnings in areas prone to major storms and sudden weather changes should be sent to and then transmitted by national and regional radio stations as soon as they are received, without waiting for the regular weather forecast.

Where this does not happen, IMO and ILO should discuss matters with the governments concerned. Once such arrangements have been made, all seagoing, even artisanal fishermen, may be encouraged by the authorities to carry radio receivers able to receive weather broadcasts. In some cases, provision of transistor radios to fishermen may become a component of various assistance projects.

One solution for delivering a timely warning to fishing fleets at sea, to remote villages and to groups of wading fishermen, where radio contact is unreliable or non-existent, could be the use of military aircraft. Both the navy and airforce have to monitor the weather and have to undertake exercises anyway.

Locating concentrations of fishermen at sea and on the beaches and "bombing" them with, say, red flares as an agreed cyclone warning signal would be both a good exercise and a solution for a missing "last-mile warning". Helicopters could be used for warning those close to shore and on the beaches, and fighter-bombers and other fast craft for those more distant.

One would expect difficulties in persuading the military authorities to break drill inertia, or civilian politicians to channel military activities towards life-saving duties. This would also require some military units to stand by during stormy periods. On the other hand, only a few aircraft would be needed, because at a jet’s speed, large areas can be covered in a short time. Air sorties can be coordinated with and by the navy, which usually has good surface radar that can locate boats far away. The response time of such a system should be extremely rapid and even permit timely reaction to sudden changes in the track of a storm.

This idea is not unique since, for example, Vietnamese military aircraft are used for alerting fishing vessels at risk of approaching cyclones. An argument that the cost is too high can be disputed because, as mentioned above, military forces must anyway conduct regular training missions using a whole variety of ships, aircraft and communication and logistics systems.

As seen above (section 3.3), most maritime developed countries have implemented effective SAR services, whether state run or voluntary, and consequently recommendations may seem superfluous. Nevertheless, even there small-scale fisheries should be encouraged to reach the desired level of training and equipment comparable to that practised in larger-scale fishing fleets.

For example, real-time vessel-monitoring systems (VMSs), so far implemented in fishing fleets mainly for monitoring compliance with fishery management rules, facilitate SAR efforts by reducing the time between the monitoring station receiving the emergency call and the arrival of the SAR unit on the scene. With continual shrinking of the size and price of electronic equipment, the use of VMS may soon be available to small-scale fisheries. This also applies to, e.g. automatic emergency and position calls from vessels in danger, and the wider use of EPIRBs.

Organizing government-run SAR in countries where governments are ineffective in other public services may be extremely difficult. Such projects, having received the equipment and basic training, tend to fall into disuse soon after expatriate expertise and external funding are terminated. Also, the introduction of western-type voluntary institutions is unlikely to succeed.

The way to go, therefore, is by identification of local (including traditional) institutions and local leadership that can, with some outside support, organize their own SAR and storm-safety services as well as other related projects. In this respect, NGOs can play a very useful role. Also, international organizations, such as FAO, ILO or IMO, or their joint working group, might develop a programme designed to match national SAR agencies in developed countries with local safety projects in developing countries in "adoption" schemes.

Local action groups and other safety-oriented projects should undertake accident prevention and SAR-facilitating activities appropriate to local conditions. For example, where dense shipping presents a hazard to small fishing craft and/or where coastal radar stations may help in locating missing fishing vessels, construction and installation of simple radar reflectors on even artisanal boats, such as canoes and sailing rafts, can save lives and equipment.

In addition, local safety groups should set buoys marking dangerous reefs and rocks; set lights or fires on beaches and at shelter entries to make safer the night passage of fishing craft through surf or narrow passages; erect high beacons, if necessary in pairs, to mark safe access courses on beaches that have few coastal landmarks; and operate beaching installations, etc.

Local action groups can also be involved in simple coastal weather warning systems, such as using mosques’ loudspeakers, hoisting warning flags and issuing smoke signals, to alert fishermen.

Suggestions collected from Pacific islanders for improving SAR are included in a survey report by McCoy (1991).

To prevent death from exposure (hypothermia) in cold water areas, immersion (exposure) suits must be carried on board and worn whenever the situation becomes dangerous.

Since boats sometimes sink rapidly with no time left for the crew to get organized properly to abandon ship, all survival equipment should be stowed and maintained so that it detaches itself from the sinking vessel and remains afloat. "Abandon ship" practice should be a part of fishermen’s training and for colder waters should include the rapid donning of immersion suits. These suits should be periodically checked for holes or tears and their zips lubricated.

In warmer areas, particularly in the tropics, where the relatively high water temperatures make more prolonged immersion sustainable and where, by and large, fishermen cannot afford to acquire immersion suits, it is highly recommended that the authorities require seagoing small fishing craft to carry enough life jackets and if necessary, assist in their acquisition and distribution. It is also recommended that fishermen are trained in water survival in the presence of sharks.

Artisanal and other fishing craft designed to remain buoyant upon capsizal should be fitted with hand ropes or other means by which people in the water can hold on to the hull with ease. These can also help them in cases in which it is possible to upright the craft.

Since collisions with larger vessels represent a major hazard to artisanal fishing craft, it is recommended that, especially where shipping is dense, all boats carry simple radar reflectors and have lights on at night. In training courses and workshops and where examinations for skippers or boat drivers are held, emphasis should be given to good knowledge of the rules of the sea.

To prevent accidents on beaching (capsizing, sinking, drowning, crashing on reefs and rocks, etc.), it is recommended that locally appropriate beaching installations are considered, especially at sites where accidents are frequent and their cost in lives and equipment is high. Local safety groups supported by the authorities, bilateral or multilateral projects and/or NGOs could be involved. Such installations can consist of buoys anchored beyond the surf zone and connected to the beach by a rope and block system which the beaching boat can hook to and be towed ashore by. The towing power at the beach end can be provided by stationary winches, trucks or tractors, or beasts of burden.

When fisherfolk, including women and children, are engaged in beach fishing activities in major storm-prone areas, an effective warning system cannot be based only on sophisticated and expensive equipment (see section 9.3).

Warnings can be issued by various visual means, including flags, smoke signals and pyrotechnics, and from the air. Local and national authorities and fishermen’s safety groups should operate simple warning schemes and make sure that, when needed, there is at least one radio transistor tuned to a station that issues storm warnings, and these are then relayed to where people are working in groups.

However, where hurricane force winds destroy dwellings and carry torrential rains and floods in their wake, warnings are of little value unless safe storm refuges for fishermen are provided. In instances where mass evacuation may not be feasible, communal storm shelters are more effective. Well-constructed (i.e. reinforced-concrete) houses, especially schools, places of worship, community centres, etc., could be used, though in some there may be the need to provide raised flooring to prevent flooding.

Where such buildings do not exist, or they cannot provide sufficient space for all the villagers and fishermen who may find themselves in need of shelter, one option is to construct low-cost community "survival platforms". These may consist of a concrete, well-fenced floor set on concrete pillars tall enough to keep the platform above any possible flooding, caused by a hurricane or anything else. The floor should have a proven, minimum carrying strength of 300 kg/sq m. The platforms should have good access through wide gangways and stairs, so that stampedes of people do not lead to deaths. With enough surface area, such structures can save large numbers of people and even animals. They should require a minimum of maintenance. Community authorities or local safety groups could be in charge of their operation and maintenance (J. Turner, personal com.).

Marine anti-venom technology and international availability of anti-venoms should be improved both qualitatively and quantitatively. For this purpose:

Many fishing people die of hypothermia unnecessarily. Fishermen should be trained to recognize the dangers and symptoms of hypothermia, take the steps necessary to warm the person up, even when he/she seems just sleepy and tired, not to give up hope even when the person seems dead, and understand the importance of early hospitalization (Berkow et al., 1997).

Operating in areas where ship-to-shore and ship-to-ship communication and SAR services are weak, general fishing units should keep visual contact with other units to look after each other.

Overloading, especially when accompanied by leaking, can become very dangerous and should be avoided by any means. All safety-related projects and other activities should make the overloading issue an important component of training, education and examinations (Rayment and Fossi, 1994).

Banning fishing with scuba gear, usually to protect deep-water stocks, has been hailed as the only way to avoid diving fatalities and the medical problems associated with decompression sickness. Where scuba gear is used by artisanal and local small-scale fishermen, training and education should be provided, preferably on a mandatory basis, because decompression sickness is not immediately obvious to untrained people.

Where the authorities set the days for short-opening fisheries, they should avoid opening the fisheries on days of particularly bad weather.

In any case, mandatory fisheries closures set by the authorities in times of bad weather would, doubtless, offer good protection against the dangers of fishing in bad weather, for no fisherman will be left at a relative disadvantage. Of course, such a policy may be applicable only when all vessels participating in such a fishery are of comparable seaworthiness.

For recommendations concerning manuals, see above (section 10.4.1). National and local authorities should be encouraged to produce easy-to-use, waterproof and small maps where dangerous spots and areas are charted. The use of such maps should not require a large desk in a protected wheelhouse.

Training courses, crash courses, workshops, seminars, etc. (see section 10.4.1), can be divided into two main categories:

Courses in the first category should be aimed at producing trainers in:

Other training activities in this first category can be aimed at producing:

If necessary, such courses and workshops could be promoted and supported by international organizations in cooperation with NGOs and involve trainees from several neighbouring countries (see also section 10.13).

Courses in the second category, run by local specialists, including graduates from the first category of courses, should be held primarily in major fishing centres and in areas densely populated by small-scale fishermen. The curricula and instructors of local courses should be selected according to local needs.

It is strongly recommended that every fisherman in charge of fishing craft carrying at least one additional crew member obtains certification.

Legislation can exempt experienced "old-hands" during the early stages of implementation. Syllabuses for certificates should be designed to fit local conditions, the type and size of fishing craft used, their operational range and the educational level of candidates.

Apart from laws and regulations dealing with safety at sea already in force or proposed, additional laws should be considered. For example, all mandatory safety equipment, especially in developing country small-scale fisheries, should by law be made tax and duty free.

Where feasible, insurance for crew and boat should be made compulsory as a condition for receiving a fishing licence. Minimum safety equipment and seaworthiness requirements and inspection should be imposed (see section 10.12).

In addition, the ILO and IMO should promote legislation and enforcement of rules preventing inhuman and unjust treatment of artisanal crews employed with their craft by motherships. Their legal position on board should be approximated to that of the regular crew and their working and living conditions taken care of accordingly. Such vessels should be obliged to carry insurance policies covering the artisanal fishermen and the boats employed by them (see section 8.4).

All this requires political will from the authorities in charge, the legislature and above all, understanding from fishermen. International assistance, promotion and pressure towards such legislation might help.

The introduction of compulsory insurance may help to reduce accidents where, especially due to political reasons, safety legislation is inadequate or absent, i.e. a policy is issued only once certain safety conditions, such as holding a valid skipper’s licence or installing a theft prevention system, have been met.

Thus, the regulation needed is that every fishing boat has to be licensed and must, for this purpose, carry life and injury insurance (boat insurance can be optional). The insurance companies would, in turn, require certain conditions from the insured, such as voluntary training in safety at sea and a certain amount of safety equipment on board, without which the policy would not be valid.

Business motivation would bring the insurers to see that fishermen improve their chances to stay alive and well. At the same time, keeping their policies valid would serve as an incentive to the fishermen and their families to observe the rules and keep the necessary equipment on board.

In view of the low priority accorded to the safety problems of small-scale fishermen even in some developed nations, a serious international effort must now be devoted to the matter.

FAO, ILO and IMO are the main intergovernmental bodies interested and able to deal with the safety problems of small-scale fisheries. In view of FAO’s decades of experience and involvement in small-scale fisheries, mainly in the various aspects of development and management, and in boat design and fishermen’s safety, it appears that:

It seems to be important that the three organizations take up the whole issue together. A joint programme would carry more weight in the eyes of the governments approached and, no less important, prevent duplication (or even triplication) of effort. Such an integrated programme should consist of the activities specified in the following sections 10.13.1 to 10.13.3.

The three organizations would create a joint working group for the formulation of international and regional standards for small-scale fishing craft design and construction.

This group should be composed of proven experts (naval architects and boat builders) in the various types of small fishing craft as given under Definition in section 1.3. The group should also include fishing experts – knowledgeable of fishing and environmental conditions in different parts of the world – and a fishery economist to help in appraising the feasibility of proposed design and construction standards in different regional conditions.

The group would discuss and agree on the principles of the variants and select existing designs to be recommended. Finally, the group would order and supervise the selection of existing material and the preparation of new publications in several languages of "reader-friendly" guidelines to be disseminated both as CD-ROMs and diskettes, and in printed form. These would be distributed among the world’s fishery and marine departments and other official authorities involved in such international standards.

The distribution list should also comprise: inspection services; NGOs active in small-scale fisheries and fishing communities; boatyards; schools for boat building, marine engineering and naval architecture; fisheries-oriented projects worldwide; and fishermen’s organizations of all sorts.

Further, the group should encourage and promote training activities aimed at the introduction and implementation of these standards among the world’s small-scale fisheries (see section 10.10.2) (Coackley, 1991; Fyson, 1980, 1985; Gulbrandsen and Pajot, 1993; Mutton, 1982; Riley and Turner, 1995).

The three organizations should either set up another working group, or commission the above group, to review the existing warning systems and SAR services among the nations supporting small-scale fisheries.

IMO seems best suited professionally to lead this activity. With respect to warning systems, regional international cooperation is indicated and should be encouraged and, if necessary, coordinated by the working group.

Regional storm warning systems in the Caribbean, Bay of Bengal, China Sea, South Pacific and elsewhere should be looked at from two points of view:

If necessary, solutions should be sought, promoted and supported. The working group should promote the strengthening or establishment of SAR services in areas where the need for them is the greatest. It should look for international and NGO financial support and the supply of expertise needed for training and running-in such services where governments are unable or unwilling to take proper care of SAR (see also section 10.10.2).

The three organizations should either set up another working group or commission the above one to review the degree of training and know-how in areas with a high casualty record and where necessary initiate or promote training programmes such as those described in section 10.10.2. Where necessary (where governments are unable or unwilling to take proper care of SAR) it should look for international and NGO financial support and the supply of expertise.

NGOs are playing an important role in many developing countries, especially in community related work. The integrated programme of the three organizations should allow for drawing in NGOs when possible. NGOs providing substantial input into the programme ought to be represented on the programme’s working group(s).