Commercial Fishing Fatalities and Injuries Described by Linked Vessel Incidents

The Risk Information System for Commercial Fishing (RISC Fishing) merged information on fishermen and vessel incident types from various databases. This descriptive study examined linked fisherman injury records (fatal and nonfatal) and vessel incident records in Oregon and Washington from 2000 to 2018 in the RISC Fishing database. The circumstances of incidents and any association with fishermen outcomes were explored to identify injury prevention opportunities.

The statistical analyses included a descriptive study of incidents related to the injury characteristics and frequency of outcomes by incident type. Further analyses included contingency tables and Pearson Chi-Square tests for selected variables to determine if there were associations between vessel incident outcomes (fatality, nonfatal injury, no injury).

A total of 375 reported incidents with 93 cases of fatalities, 239 nonfatal injuries, and over 6,575 fishermen with no injury were described. Of fatalities, 90% were due to drowning, with only 2% of victims reported donning survival equipment. Deckhands experienced fatal and nonfatal injuries most frequently. The most common factors associated with nonfatal injuries included contact with objects (event), walking on vessel and hauling gear (work activities), and fractures and open wounds (nature). The most common final event leading to a vessel disaster with no injury being reported was sinking (76%). Distributions between the incident outcomes (fatality, nonfatal injury, and no injury) differed by vessel activity/type, fishery/gear, and event leading to the incident.

Linked information of fishermen injury outcomes and vessel incident information showed that events and settings that involve fatalities are qualitatively different from incidents resulting in only nonfatal injuries or uninjured survivors. Vessel-level approaches for mitigating fatalities, such as ensuring vessel stability, improving navigation/operation decisions, and spotlighting survival equipment policies/rescue priorities could have a significant impact. Work task-specific prevention strategies for nonfatal injuries related to the larger vessels (catcher/processors and processors) and smaller vessels (with pot/trap gears) are paramount. The use of linked information provided in reports can provide a fuller incident picture to advance efforts to improve the working conditions of commercial fishermen.