Safety and Health in the Fishing Industry

This report has been prepared by the International Labour Office as the basis for discussions at the Tripartite Meeting on Safety and Health in the Fishing Industry. It examines recent information concerning safety and health in the fishing industry with a view to illustrating these issues and exploring actions that are being taken by international organizations, governments, employers, vessel owners, trade unions, the fishermen themselves and other organizations. The report also examines ILO labour standards relevant to fishermen to provide the basis for discussion on whether those standards are current and sufficient.

At its 87th (June 1999) Session, the International Labour Conference agreed, as proposed by the newly elected Director-General of the ILO, Mr. Juan Somavia, that in future the ILO should focus its work on four strategic objectives:

to promote and realize fundamental principles and rights at work;
to create greater opportunities for women and men to secure decent employment and income;
to enhance the coverage and effectiveness of social protection for all; and
to strengthen tripartism and social dialogue.

While falling primarily under the third objective, the issue of safety and health in the fishing industry is linked to all these objectives, in particular to rights at work and social dialogue, and the report attempts to illustrate these links.

The Meeting is part of the ILO's Sectoral Activities Programme, the purpose of which is to facilitate the exchange of information between constituents on labour and social developments related to particular economic sectors, complemented by practically oriented research on topical sectoral issues. This objective has traditionally been pursued by the holding of international tripartite sectoral meetings for the exchange of views and experience with a view to fostering a broader understanding of sector-specific issues and problems; promoting an international tripartite consensus on sectoral concerns and providing guidance for national and international policies and measures to deal with the related issues and problems; promoting the harmonization of all ILO activities of a sectoral character and acting as the focal point between the Office and its constituents; and providing technical advice, practical assistance and concrete support to ILO constituents in order to facilitate the application of international labour standards in the various economic sectors.

At its 268th Session (March 1997), the Governing Body of the ILO decided that a Tripartite Meeting on Safety and Health in the Fishing Industry would be included in the programme of sectoral meetings for 1998-99. The purpose of the Meeting should be to exchange views on safety and health issues in the fishing industry; to assess work done by the FAO/ILO/IMO Working Group and by the FAO and the IMO; to adopt conclusions which identify follow-up activities and review ILO standards adopted specifically for fishermen; and to adopt a report on the discussion. The Meeting may also adopt resolutions.

The Governing Body also agreed that the governments of the following countries should be invited to be represented at the Meeting: Algeria, Chile, China, Cuba, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Philippines, Russian Federation, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Spain, Thailand, United Kingdom and United States. A number of countries were included in a reserve list from which further invitees would be drawn in the event that a government in the first list declined the invitation. It decided that 18 Employer and 18 Worker participants in the Meeting would be appointed on the basis of nominations made by the respective groups of the Governing Body. They do not necessarily come from the above list of countries.

The report begins with an overview of recent developments in fishing, including employment, production (catch) trends and economic, environmental and legal changes which have had, or will have, a major impact on fishing operations. It then addresses safety and health issues in the fishing industry, including those relevant to small-scale and artisanal fisheries. This is followed by chapters describing national, regional and international measures and activities concerning safety and health in fishing. Chapter 6 contains a review of ILO standards concerning fishermen and maritime labour standards which could apply to fishermen.⁽¹⁾ The final part of the report is a summary and a list of suggested points for discussion.

The report draws on available international literature on safety and health in fishing as well as the experiences of several countries. It also incorporates excerpts from several papers prepared for the Office. This work is gratefully acknowledged in the appropriate chapters of the report.

The report is published under the authority of the International Labour Office. It has been written by Brandt Wagner, Maritime Specialist, Sectoral Activities Department, and inputs in terms of data collection and contributions to various chapters were provided by Inger Gregersen, David Gold, Hag BaeYoon and Karen Taswell. Portions were drawn from papers prepared for the Office by M. Ben-Yami, S. Tomaszunas, V. Minko, Z. Ling and F. Gonzales. Other valuable contributions are noted in the text. It is hoped that the information and analysis provided herein will serve as a useful basis for discussion at the Meeting.

1. The Governing Body decisions which led to this review are described in detail in Ch. 6.

This page was created by RP/CP. Updated by AN/BR. It was approved by BW/OdVR. It was last updated , 13 February 2002.