Safety at sea for small-scale fisheries in developing countries: safety for fishermen: the way forward

Fishing is probably the most dangerous occupation in the world. The objective of this report is to disseminate the knowledge gained from a FAO project to help countries towards improving safety for fishermen.

The paper presents examples from the project activities in West Africa and South Asia, and finds that:

• the people affected by accidents at sea are often among the poorest in society
• safety at sea is always an integrated part of fisheries management; every change within a fisheries management system will affect safety for fishermen in some way
• training and awareness raising are very often the most effective way of improving safety for fishermen, yet preparation should involve children and other villagers as well as fishermen
• the design, quality and equipment of fishing vessels are extremely important and very often missing
• search and rescue (SAR) services are often lacking in developing countries due to their high costs

• activities related to fishermen safety can be implemented through various safety-at-sea projects and should always be part of any project related to fisheries livelihoods and management
• they should be also indispensable part of projects related to coastal management, coastal ecosystem and climate change
• focus should be on prevention and mitigation measures,which are highly cost effective
• the first step should always be studying the situation and analysing data on accidents at sea, then developing legislation, training, boat-building, fisheries management, etc