iFish6

Fish Safe is the commercial fishing safety association in British Columbia Canada. In 2009 Fish Safe launched a comprehensive safety program for the fishing industry called the Safest Catch – as opposed to the Deadliest Catch, at that time a popular Discovery Channel series. Today more than 1,370 vessels and 3,670 fishermen have participated in the Safest Catch program. The vessels range in size from 14’ aluminum skiffs to large offshore vessels. Fisheries include salmon gillnet, troll and seine, trap (prawn, black cod, crab), long line (halibut), herring (food and bait), trawl for various species and dive fisheries for geoduck, urchins and sea cucumbers. The fishermen are as diverse as the fleet, all Canadians with ethnicities that include Scandinavian, Croatian, Vietnamese, Japanese and First Nations (Indigenous). Fishermen are old, young, both genders, generational, families, full time, part time, experienced or new crew greenhorns. The Safest Catch vision is “Fishermen Helping Fishermen come home safely” and at the heart and soul of that vision, are the fishermen trained as Safety Advisors. The Safest Catch is a voluntary program. By invitation, an Advisor attends a vessel and works with the skipper and crew doing a safety orientation, emergency drills, a muster list, and writing emergency procedures. Fire drills use a smoke machine in different compartments, man overboard drills include a dummy to be rescued with vessel equipment or by hand, and abandon ship drills are scenario based. Vessels who complete the Safest Catch receive program branded hoodies and hats. Other awards are damage control equipment buckets or emergency abandon ship kits – and a distinctive Safest Catch decal for the vessel. Most countries by regulation, require that fishermen have some level of marine emergency duty training depending on vessel size and area of operation. Although that training is important, it is generic and lacks context. In contrast, the Safest Catch is vessel specific. The emergency drill debrief “what worked and what didn’t” can reveal problems particular to that vessel – that can then be remedied. Transport Canada recognizes the Safest Catch program as meeting the curriculum requirements of their Small Domestic Vessel – Basic Safety (SDV-BS) mandatory training for fishing vessels less than 15 gross tons. Fish Safe is authorized to issue Transport Canada training certification to skippers and crew who complete the Safest Catch program. An important part of a vessel visit is the Advisor getting to know the skipper and crew, sitting at the galley table with a coffee or on deck and sharing fishing stories. Advisors frequently become the skipper’s “go to” resource person for crew certification or regulatory requirements, or other safety information. The Advisors have positive working relationships with Transport Canada and WorkSafeBC, the two regulatory agencies that have jurisdiction over commercial fishing. Both agencies recognize and respect the Safest Catch program decals on vessels. The Safest Catch is not a one time event – skippers frequently ask Advisors to do shorter pre-season or refresher visits. These visits are often an opportunity to do a safety orientation for new crew, emergency drills again and to talk about vessel safety in general. The Safest Catch program is complemented with regular safety events at community docks before fishery openings. Events can include activities like PFD cartridge replacement stations, on the fishing grounds “show us your PFD” challenges, life ring toss or immersion suit competitions, and draws for safety equipment prizes. Transport Canada has funded Fish Safe twice to introduce the Safest Catch program and train Advisors on the east coast. This IFISH 6 Safest Catch workshop invites participants to work with Safest Catch Advisors and what they’ve learned about designing and implementing a safety program for a diverse fishing industry. There will be a workshop folio for participants with activities, discussion points and tips on how to develop a Safest Catch program – there will also be stories about what didn’t work! Safest Catch tools and materials will be part of the workshop.