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“For fishers their ship is their home, and for many the crew is their only family”

On the 14th of June, the ILO’s 96th International Labour Conference adopted a new Convention and Recommendation on work in the fishing sector. The new instruments are aimed to ensure decent living and working conditions for some 30 million workers in the global fishing industry. ILO Online reports from Ukraine where the fishing industry is currently in crisis.

Article | 19 June 2007

ODESSA, Ukraine (ILO Online) – Before 1991, there were 80,000 fishers in Ukraine and the fish caught in the main fishing grounds, the Black Sea estuaries and the Sea of Azov, reached 1.2 million tons each year.

Today, the industry is undergoing a serious crisis. There are only 37,000 fishermen left in the country.

Most vessels are more than 20 years old, and their depreciation level has reached 70 to 80 per cent. Experts estimate that in 5 to7 years from now a mass withdrawal of worn-out vessels will start, with no new ships to replace them. Shortage of funds for maintenance, modernization and replacement of vessels does not help to improve the poor safety and working conditions of fishers either.

The problem is not as dire for the fishermen working on some 70 ocean-going fishing vessels that are relatively well protected – at least in terms of their training and the construction and equipment of their vessels – because these vessels are covered by the instruments of the International Maritime Organization to which Ukraine is a member.

“We are much more concerned about the situation of those who work on small vessels which represent a fleet of more than 5,600 ships in our country. What is important about the new Convention is that it will allow us to extend protection to this group of workers”, says Vasyl Chernik, deputy head of the State Fishing Committee and a member of the Ukrainian delegation at the International Labour Conference (ILC).

The new standards contain provisions designed to ensure that workers in the fishing sector enjoy improved occupational safety and health and medical care at sea, sufficient rest, the protection of a work agreement and the same social security protection as other workers.

Chernik believes that, should the Convention be ratified by Ukraine, no major amendments in the national law will have to be made. The most challenging task would be to allocate sufficient funds for the Convention’s implementation.

Another serious issue is providing protection to thousands of Ukrainian fishers who today work under the flag of other countries.

“These challenges make it increasingly important – for fishers, fishing vessel owners, related industries and consumers – to ensure that the fishing sector is subject to labour legislation that will protect fishers and will help make this essential profession attractive and sustainable”, says Elizabeth Tinoco, head of the ILO’s Sectoral Activities Branch.

The next step, following the adoption of the Convention by the ILC, is for member States to put the measure to their national authorities for ratification. This should stimulate national tripartite discussions to review or establish national laws, regulations and other measures which will improve the conditions of work on fishing vessels.

“It is extremely important that not only Ukraine but also other flag states ratify the Convention”, says Mikhailo Papiev, Minister of Labour and Social Policy and a delegate to the ILC. “The ratification process has to be well coordinated, in order to ensure protection of all fishers regardless of the flag of their vessel. Because for fishers their ship is their home, and for many of them the crew is their only family.”

The Convention, to be known as The Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 and the Recommendation will come into effect when they are ratified by 10 (including eight coastal nations) of the ILO’s 180 member States.