U.N. Study: Fishing Kills 70 People Daily

NEW YORK, Jan. 25, 2001 -- -- A profession that is one of the world’s most basic is also one of the world’s most deadly, a U.N. study said today.

Fishing at sea claims at least 70 lives a day — and very likely more, because few countries keep accurate records on the industry, according to a report from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

In the United States the fatality rate among fishermen is 25 to 30 times the total national death rate, said the report. In Italy it is more than 21 times the national average, and in Australia it is almost 18 times the national average.

The International Labor Organization estimates that 24,000 fishermen die at work annually.

There were many reasons cited for the high rate of death among fishermen, among them, the dwindling stocks of fish in some waters. That means they are often forced to trawl further away from shore, in fishing craft not designed for that task, the report said.

Furthermore, the report said because the fishermen have to travel farther offshore, they are staying at sea longer, which increases the risk to their boats and their crew, who sometimes have limited experience with extended periods at sea.

And because these fishermen often have limited experience fishing offshore, they lack knowledge on essential issues such as navigation, weather forecasting and communications.

The report said in developing countries, poorly designed and built fishing craft, lack of safety equipment and inappropriate, outdated and inadequately enforced regulations are the main causes of fatalities.

In one night in November 1996, more than 1,400 fishermen perished during a severe cyclone on the east coast of India. Many of their trawlers were poorly designed and built, and few, if any, were equipped with safety equipment or even simple transistor radios.

Even though the media broadcast advance warning of the cyclone, the fishermen were largely caught unaware.