International Union for Circumpolar Health Ministry of Public Health and Social Development of RF Russian Academy of Medical Sciences Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Medical Sciences Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences Medical Polar Fund “Science” The Northern Forum

Abstracts

Occupational health

Background: Tremendous progress has been made in reducing commercial fishing mortality in Alaska, a decrease of ~ 2/3 since 1992 in Alaska. • Can this success be exported? • What is the scale of the problem worldwide? • What would be the critical steps necessary to make progress?

Methods: • Developing nation statistics are quite limited, but case reports available, e.g. 600 fishermen drowning in Bay of Bengal cyclone, 1999. • Finding few published mortality statistics for developing nations, we averaged the 1998-2001 estimates from five developed nations with consistently-available statistics (Canada, Italy, Norway, Sweden, and the U.S.). Applying this average to estimated numbers of fishermen provides an estimate of the total number of fishing-related fatalities.

Results: • An estimated 34.5 million (fishermen worldwide) X 767 = approximately 26,500 fishing-related fatalities annually. This estimate slightly is slightly larger than the 24,000 annual fatalities estimate based on earlier data by the International Labour Organization (International Labour Office, 1999b).

Recommendations: (from IFISH 1 & 2 conferences, then NIOSH/FAO/BOBP meetings): • Plan for expanded collaboration with FAO and ILO on fishing safety and casualty surveillance. • Invite IMO collaboration in unregistered vessel efforts • Plan for IFISH3 in Chennai, India, January 2006. Results of this conference will be collated and presented at XICCH13. • Plan for technical assistance in injury and casualty surveillance for fishing industry in various developing nation locales, perhaps starting in India with BOBP and abstracting/validating available state-underwritten fishermen’s insurance records, then applying similar methods then Pacific Islands nations .

Progress since: • Pilot study and review of death records from fishing industry, state insurance and Coast Guard records, Tamil Nadu and Andra Pradesh States, completed December, 2004. Full-blown review planned and all necessary commitments obtained, mid-December, 2004. • Tsunami tragedy December 26, 2004 interrupted this work, but this work is now continuing. • Much remains to be done to spread widely the full benefits of satellite weather prediction and simple, inexpensive measures such as flotation vests to the artisanal and subsistence fishermen so common in maritime developing nations. • Post-tsunami efforts and necessary improvements in communication and warning systems may afford opportunities to make many of these improvements, too. • Special attention will be given in this presentation to hazards of fishing in the cold waters characteristic of circumpolar areas.

Note. Abstracts are published in author's edition

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Last update: 06-Jul-2012 (11:52:05)