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Fishing Operations. 3. Best Practices to Improve Safety at Sea in the Fisheries Sector
Fishing Operations. 3. Best Practices to Improve Safety at Sea in the Fisheries Sector
Fishing Operations. 3. Best Practices to Improve Safety at Sea in the Fisheries Sector
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Fishing Operations. 3. Best Practices to Improve Safety at Sea in the Fisheries Sector

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These guidelines have been produced to support implementation of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries with regard to safety at sea in the fisheries sector. Their purpose is to enable relevant authorities to develop and implement strategies aimed at improved safety, health and conditions of service at sea in capture fisheries and aquaculture operations. They apply to all commercial fishing activities, as well as activities at sea within the aquaculture sector. Furthermore, the principles therein, may also be applied to vessels engaged in fisheries research. However, while these guidelines are not directed at sport and recreational activities carried out within the aquatic environment, administrations responsible for such sectors may well take note of the safety and health issues therein.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateMar 11, 2016
ISBN9789251091067
Fishing Operations. 3. Best Practices to Improve Safety at Sea in the Fisheries Sector
Author

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

An intergovernmental organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has 194 Member Nations, two associate members and one member organization, the European Union. Its employees come from various cultural backgrounds and are experts in the multiple fields of activity FAO engages in. FAO’s staff capacity allows it to support improved governance inter alia, generate, develop and adapt existing tools and guidelines and provide targeted governance support as a resource to country and regional level FAO offices. Headquartered in Rome, Italy, FAO is present in over 130 countries.Founded in 1945, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) leads international efforts to defeat hunger. Serving both developed and developing countries, FAO provides a neutral forum where all nations meet as equals to negotiate agreements and debate policy. The Organization publishes authoritative publications on agriculture, fisheries, forestry and nutrition.

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    Fishing Operations. 3. Best Practices to Improve Safety at Sea in the Fisheries Sector - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

    The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers, whether or not these have been patented, does not imply that these have been endorsed or recommended by FAO in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned.

    The views expressed in this information product are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of FAO.

    ISBN 978-92-5-108809-8

    E-ISBN 978-92-5-109106-7 (EPUB)

    © FAO, 2015

    FAO encourages the use, reproduction and dissemination of material in this information product. Except where otherwise indicated, material may be copied, downloaded and printed for private study, research and teaching purposes, or for use in non-commercial products or services, provided that appropriate acknowledgement of FAO as the source and copyright holder is given and that FAO’s endorsement of users’ views, products or services is not implied in any way.

    All requests for translation and adaptation rights, and for resale and other commercial use rights should be made via www.fao.org/contact-us/licence-request or addressed to copyright@fao.org.

    FAO information products are available on the FAO website (www.fao.org/publications) and can be purchased through publications-sales@fao.org.

    PREPARATION OF THIS DOCUMENT

    Fishing is considered to be the world’s most dangerous occupation, first estimated by FAO in 1989 to cause more than 24 000 deaths per year and later confirmed by the International Labour Organization (ILO) at a Tripartite Meeting on Safety and Health in the Fishing Industry, Geneva, Switzerland, 13–17 December 1999. The issue of safety in the fisheries sector was again raised at the twenty-seventh session of the FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI) held at FAO headquarters from 5 to 9 March 2007, at which a large number of members expressed concern about safety at sea in the fisheries sector, especially small-scale fisheries. It was suggested that FAO should develop guidelines on best practices for safety at sea and that COFI should consider developing an international plan of action (IPOA) on the subject. FAO was also urged to continue collaboration with the International Maritime Organization (IMO). As a result, an Expert Consultation was held in Rome, Italy, from 10 to 13 November 2008 to develop a draft outline of guidelines for best practices to improve safety at sea in the fisheries sector (FAO Fisheries Report No. 888). The consultation also provided recommendations regarding the scope of the guidelines, the special needs of developing countries and other specific considerations and goals.

    The issue of safety in the fisheries sector (that includes vessel operations in support of aquaculture activities) was once more raised at the twenty-eighth session of COFI and many Member States again noted the importance of safety at sea, as well as the outcome of the above-mentioned FAO Expert Consultation on Best Practices for Safety at Sea in the Fisheries Sector. Consequently, there was widespread support for the development of guidelines as recommended by the Expert Consultation. The Committee recognized the effective working relations that FAO enjoyed with IMO and ILO and encouraged such collaboration to continue, especially in the areas of safety at sea and conditions of work and health standards aboard fishing vessels and vessels used in support of aquaculture activities.

    These guidelines were prepared within the Fishing Operations and Technology Service of the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department, taking into consideration the draft outline developed by the above-mentioned Expert Consultation and the result of experience gained from field trials on the subject matter within developing countries. Due consideration was also given to additional comments and suggestions received and to related expert views voiced at major international meetings and/or given in publications.

    FAO. 2015.

    Fishing operations. Best practices to improve safety at sea in the fisheries sector.

    FAO Technical Guidelines for Responsible Fisheries. No. 1, Suppl. 3. Rome. 196 pp.

    ABSTRACT

    Article 6, paragraph 6.17, of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries recognizes that States should ensure that fishing facilities and equipment, as well as all fishing activities, allow for safe, healthy and fair working conditions and meet internationally agreed standards adopted by relevant international organizations. Consequently, following directions from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Committee on Fisheries, the three principle relevant international organizations, FAO, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO), have cooperated in the development of mandatory and voluntary instruments, as well as guidelines for their implementation. Such cooperation was crucial in the revision of Parts A and B of the FAO/ILO/IMO Code of Safety for Fishermen and Fishing Vessels, as well as the in the development of the Voluntary Guidelines for the Design, Construction and Equipment of Small Fishing Vessels and in the development of:

    •Safety Recommendations for Decked Fishing Vessels of Less than 12 metres in Length and Undecked Fishing Vessels;

    •Implementation Guidelines on Part B of the Code, the Voluntary Guidelines and the Safety Recommendations; and

    •Revision of the Document for Guidance on Training and Certification of Fishing Vessel Personnel.

    Furthermore, FAO cooperated with ILO in the development of its Work in Fishing Convention (No. 188) and in 2012 with IMO in finalizing the Cape Town Agreement on the implementation of the Protocol to the Torremolinos Convention. Therefore, for the first time standards are now available for fishing vessels of all sizes and may be readily applied to many vessels used in aquaculture activities. Consequently, there is a sound basis to move forward with the development of Best Practices for Safety at Sea in the Fisheries Sector, as recommended by an Expert Consultation held in Rome, Italy, from 10 to 13 November 2008.

    It is noted, however, that vessels used in support of aquaculture may fall under legislation promulgated for fishing and non-capture fisheries operations; hence, the need for close cooperation between fisheries and maritime administrations.

    The purpose of these guidelines is to enable relevant authorities to develop and implement strategies aimed at improved safety, health and conditions of service at sea in capture fisheries and aquaculture operations. They apply to all commercial fishing activities, as well as activities at sea within the aquaculture sector. Furthermore, the principles therein, may also be applied to vessels engaged in fisheries research.

    However, while these guidelines are not directed at sport and recreational activities carried out within the aquatic environment, administrations responsible for such sectors may well take note of the safety and health issues therein.

    CONTENTS

    Preparation of this document

    Abstract

    Acronyms and abbreviations

    Background

    Introduction

    Part 1 – General Provisions

    1. Purpose and scope

    2. Definitions

    3. Objectives

    3.1 Long-term objective

    3.2 Immediate objectives

    4. Guiding principles

    5. Target Audiences

    6. Legal aspects

    7. Lead agency

    8. Outline of the guidelines

    9. Special requirements of developing countries

    Part 2 – Application

    Chapter 1 – Data collection and analysis to improve safety

    1. Policy level

    2. Data Collection

    2.1 General

    2.2 Sources of data

    2.3 Data required

    3. Analysis

    3.1 General

    3.2 National level

    3.3 Regional level

    Chapter 2 – National fisheries and aquaculture sector inventory

    1. Human resource inventories

    1.1 Fishing vessel and aquaculture support vessel personnel

    1.2 Fisheries managers

    1.3 Training and education

    1.4 Shipbuilders, boatbuilders and safety equipment suppliers

    2. Legal requirements

    Chapter 3 – Problems, solutions and safety strategy development

    1. Problem identification and rectification

    1.1 Safety policy

    1.2 Legal issues

    1.3 Fisheries management

    1.4 Data collection and analysis

    1.5 Vessels and equipment

    1.6 Search and rescue service

    Chapter 4 – Managing change

    1. Planning, policy and legislation

    1.1 Managing change

    1.2 Policy

    1.3 Legal issues

    1.4 Fisheries management aspects of safety regulations

    1.5 Operational aspects

    1.6 Marking and identification of fishing vessels

    Appendixes

    1 – Implementation of management change

    2 – Accident investigation and analysis

    3 – Required qualifications and experience of accident investigators, surveyors and inspectors

    4 – Code for the conduct of an inspector of vessels

    5 – Matters concerning the register of ships, fishing vessels and vessels used in support of aquaculture activities

    6 – Self-assessments of vessel conditions and fishing vessel safety

    7 – Search and rescue service

    8 – Boat drill and fire drill

    9 – Factors governing the development of national rules and regulations for the construction and the equipment of small vessels

    10 – Training – a small-scale fisheries approach

    11 – Fisheries management

    12 – Vessel operations in aquaculture

    13 – Inspection of a vessel

    14 – Marine insurance

    Annexes

    1 – List of participants at the Expert Consultation on Best Practices for Safety at Sea in the Fisheries Sector

    2 – Extracts from the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (FAO, 1995)

    3 – Examples of relevant international agreements, both binding and voluntary

    4 – References

    5 – Elements for consideration in the development of an international plan of action on safety at sea

    6 – IMO Ship Identification number scheme

    Tables

    A 2.1

    Format for reporting of casualty statistics for vessels and vessel personnel at sea

    A 9.1

    Factors to guide formulation of rules for the construction and operation of small-scale vessels

    ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

    BACKGROUND

    1. From ancient times, fish from oceans, lakes and rivers has been a major source of food and a provider of employment and other economic benefits for humanity. Ocean productivity seemed particularly unlimited. However, with increased knowledge and the dynamic development of fisheries and aquaculture, it was realized that living aquatic resources, although renewable, are not infinite and need to be properly managed, if their contributions to the nutritional, economic and social well-being of the world’s growing population were to be sustained.

    2. However, for nearly three decades, because of the dramatic increase in pollution of the aquatic environment and the atmosphere, abusive fishing techniques worldwide and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU), catches and landings have been shrinking and fish stocks declining, often at alarming rates.

    3. Stock depletion has negative implications for food security, as well as economic development, and reduces social welfare in countries around the world, especially those relying on fish as their main source of animal protein and income, such as subsistence fishers in developing countries. Therefore, living aquatic resources need to be properly managed if their benefits to society are to be sustainable.

    4. Sustainability of societal benefits requires a recovery of depleted stocks and maintenance of the still-healthy ones through sound management. In this regard, the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in 1982 provided a new framework for the better management of marine resources. Thus, the new legal regime of the oceans gave Coastal States rights and responsibilities for the management and use of fishery resources within the areas of their national jurisdiction, which embrace some 90 percent of the world’s marine fisheries.

    5. In recent years, world fisheries have become dynamically developing sectors of the food industry and many States have striven to take advantage of their new opportunities by investing in modern fishing fleets, aquaculture development and processing factories in response to growing international demand for fish and fishery products. It became clear, however, that many fisheries resources could not sustain an often uncontrolled increase of exploitation. Overexploitation of important fish stocks, modifications of ecosystems, significant economic losses and international conflicts over management and fish trade still threaten the long-term sustainability of fisheries and the contribution of fisheries to the supply of food.

    6. In light of this situation, while recognizing that the recovery of depleted stocks is still urgent and that avoiding depleting still-healthy stocks is important, FAO Member States have expressed the need to further develop aquaculture as the only immediate way to bridge the gap between the dipping capture fisheries output and the increasing world demand for seafood.

    7. Indeed, in the last three decades, aquaculture has recorded a significant and most rapid growth among the food-producing sectors and has developed into a globally robust and vital industry. However, aquaculture also has been shown at times to have the potential to cause significant environmentally and socially adverse impacts.

    8. Thus, the nineteenth session of the FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI), held in March 1991, recommended that new approaches to fisheries and aquaculture management embracing conservation and environmental, as well as social and economic considerations, were urgently needed. FAO was asked to develop the concept of responsible fisheries and elaborate a code of conduct to foster its application.

    9. Subsequently, the Government of Mexico, in collaboration with FAO, organized an International Conference on Responsible Fishing in Cancún in May 1992. The Declaration of Cancún, endorsed at that conference, was brought to the attention of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, also known as the Earth Summit, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June 1992, which supported the preparation of a Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (CCRF). The FAO Technical Consultation on High Seas Fishing, held in September 1992, further recommended that in the elaboration of a code the issues regarding high seas fisheries also be addressed.

    10. The One Hundred and Second Session of the FAO Council, held in November 1992, discussed the elaboration of the CCRF, recommending that priority be given to high seas issues, and requested that proposals for the CCRF be presented to the 1993 session of COFI.

    11. The twentieth session of COFI, held in March 1993, examined in general the proposed framework and content for such a Code, including the elaboration of guidelines, and endorsed a time frame for the further elaboration of the CCRF. It also requested FAO to prepare, on a fast track basis, as part of the CCRF, proposals to prevent reflagging of fishing vessels that affect conservation and management measures on the high seas. This resulted in the FAO Conference, at its Twenty-seventh Session in November 1993, adopting the Agreement to Promote Compliance with International Conservation and Management Measures by Fishing Vessels on the High Seas, which, according to FAO Conference Resolution 15/93, forms an integral part of the CCRF. It was also recognized and confirmed, that issues of responsible aquaculture development and aquaculture sustainability should be addressed in the formulation process so that these be appropriately covered in the envisaged CCRF.

    12. This implicit recognition of the importance of governance in aquaculture is underlined in Article 9, paragraph 9.1.1, of the CCRF, which requires states to establish, maintain and develop an appropriate legal and administrative framework to facilitate the development of responsible aquaculture. In addition, at the beginning of the new millennium, there was growing recognition of the significant potential for the use of ocean and coastal waters for mariculture expansion. The outstanding issue in this area is that, unlike in capture fisheries, the existing applicable principles of public international law and treaty provisions provide little guidance on the conduct of aquaculture operations in these waters. Yet, experts agree that most of the future aquaculture expansion will occur in the seas and oceans, certainly further offshore, perhaps even as far as the high seas. The regulatory vacuum for aquaculture in the high seas would have to be addressed should aquaculture operations expand in that direction.

    13. The CCRF was formulated so as to be interpreted and applied in conformity with the relevant rules of international law, as reflected in the 10 December 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The CCRF is also in line with the Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of this Law, namely the 1995 Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks. It is equally in line with, inter alia, the 1992 Declaration of Cancún and the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, in particular Chapter 17 of Agenda 21.

    14. The development of the CCRF was carried out by FAO in consultation and collaboration with relevant United Nations agencies and other international organizations, including non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

    15. The CCRF consists of five introductory articles: Nature and scope; Objectives; Relationship with other international instruments; Implementation, monitoring and updating; and Special requirements of developing countries. These introductory articles are followed by an article on General principles, which precede the six thematic articles on Fisheries management, Fishing operations, Aquaculture development, Integration of fisheries into coastal area management, Post-harvest practices and trade, as well as Fisheries research. As already mentioned, the Agreement to Promote Compliance with International Conservation and Management Measures by Fishing Vessels on the High Seas forms an integral part of the CCRF.

    16. The CCRF is voluntary. However, certain parts of it are based on relevant rules of international law, as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982. In capture fisheries, the CCRF also contains provisions that may be or have already been given

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