FACTS

1. Commercial fishing is regularly one of the most hazardous industries in the United States with a fatality rate many times that of the national average.
2. Fatigue is a main problem for commercial fishing, often the cause of devastating and sometimes even fatal accidents.
3. Hard physical work or boring, repetitive jobs like watchkeeping can bring on fatigue. Add stressors like the ship’s motion or extreme weather, and the risk is amplified.
4. Six hours or less sleep a night, broken sleep and irregular work hours lead to a build up of ‘sleep debt’, a key fatigue trigger.
5. Drinking or taking drugs the night before sailing makes you more vulnerable to fatigue on board. If you’re intoxicated or hung over, stay safe, stay home.

STATS

• Fatalities in the commercial fishing industry in the United States. (2000-2015)
  • 725 commercial fishermen died while fishing in the U.S.
  • Nearly half of all fatalities (354, 49%) occurred after a vessel disaster
  • Another 221 (30%) fatalities occurred when a fisherman fell overboard
  • Another 87 (12%) fatalities resulted from an injury onboard
  • The remaining 63 (9%) fatalities occurred while diving or from onshore injuries
• Vessel Disasters. There were 354 fatalities that occurred from 212 separate vessel disasters. Causes were:
  • 47 (25%) were initiated by flooding
  • 36 (19%) were initiated by being struck by a large wave
  • 35 (19%) were initiated by vessel instability
  • Severe weather conditions contributed to 116 (55%) of the fatal vessel disasters
• Falls Overboard
• Vessel disasters, falls overboard, and on-deck injuries account for 92% of fatalities to commercial fishermen in the United States between 2000 and 2014.