The REAL deadliest catch
17 f ishermen die in 2 years as Scots f ishing grounds now more lethal than Alaskan seas
SCOTLAND’s seas are among the deadliest in the world, with new figures highlighting the high price paid by fishermen to land their catch.
In the past two years, 17 trawlermen have died in Scottish waters – which are now more lethal than the notorious fishing grounds of Alaska.
Industry officials say the rising cost in human lives is unacceptable and blame it partly on a lack of precautions by fishermen, such as failing to wear lifejackets. But other experts blame growing manpower shortages as new rules make it harder to employ foreign workers.
Statistics gathered from Marine Accident Investigation Branch annual reports show seven fishermen died in Scottish waters in the past twelve months, with a further ten the previous year. Seven of the victims were Scottish.
Simon Potten, head of safety, training and services at the industry body Seafish, said: ‘These new figures are a great worry for us.
‘We are desperately trying to improve the record for what is the most dangerous industry in the UK. It is unacceptable that catching fish and eating fish comes at the price of human life. The most worrying thing we have seen this year is the majority of fatalities have been “man overboard” deaths, where the fishermen have fallen over the side at sea and have drowned or been lost.
‘We need the fishermen to embrace a safety culture and put safety up there with the importance of catching fish and earning money.’
The figures show more deaths are occurring off Scotland than in the notorious Alaskan seas, the dangers of which have been publicised by the Discovery Channel series The Deadliest Catch.
While Alaska recorded its first ever year of having no deaths at sea between October, 2014 and September, 2015, by contrast the Scottish death toll is rising.
The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation believes one of the main causes of death is that fishermen are not wearing lifejackets or personal flotation devices (PFDs).
Chief executive Bertie Armstrong said: ‘The number of deaths this year represents a serious spike in the statistics and the causes are various. The primary issue is men falling overboard, and so over the past two years we have tried to make sure every fisherman registered in Scotland has a new, high-quality PFD – a lifejacket. But it is not law yet to wear these, and many don’t wear them on board.
‘So we are trying to mitigate against people going over the side in the first place, and trying to encourage fishermen to practise the recovery of people falling into the sea, so they are more prepared.’
Other experts argue there are deeper issues underlying the rising death toll. Donald Maclean, managing director of the firm Barratlantic Seafood, said: ‘I believe a key cause is the enormous staff shortages Scottish boats are facing. Non-EU fishermen, mainly Filipinos, are being prevented from working in Scotland because of regulations by the Scottish Government and so the industry is terribly short-staffed.
‘As such, we are now seeing our fishermen with just three workers on deck instead of four. They either have to tie their boat up and lose money, or put in more hours. And of course the more hours they put in, the more stressed and tired they become, which causes accidents.
‘Many of the staff replacing nonEU fishermen are under-skilled. A fisherman’s job is highly skilled and dangerous and with untrained fishermen on board, the job is becoming even more dangerous.’
Three fishermen were killed this year when the crab boat Louisa sank on April 9 in the Outer Hebrides. Chris Morrison, 27, from Harris and Martin Johnstone, 29, from Caithness, drowned when the liferaft failed to inflate, as did skipper Paul Alliston, 42, from Lewis.
Nine days later, Craig Reid, from the Black Isle, was killed when he fell overboard from the Apollo fishing boat near Orkney.
Another trawlerman died two months later when he went overboard near Shetland.
‘These new figures are a great worry to us’