May 4, 2018 — It’s not something most fishermen think about once they leave the dock and head out to the grounds. I’m talking going overboard and how to increase your chances of getting back aboard alive. Maybe it’s late at night and you’re coming off your wheel turn. You exit the wheelhouse, drop down a step just as the boat takes a wicked heave and you’re pitched over the side. Maybe you get wrapped up in pot warp as it snakes across the deck and out the stern, hauling you and the traps with it.
There are probably a couple hundred different maybes and some of them certainly snared the 204 fishermen that died from unintentional falls overboard between 2000 and 2016. In all cases, none of the victims was wearing a PFD. In Fatal Falls Overboard in Commercial Fishing 2000 — 2016, a just released report from the CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, those man overboard deaths are examined.
A chart shows the number of falls overboard by year and the trend of fatal falls overboard. A second chart breaks down most of the 204 fatalities by several categories including age, fishing experience, activity before the fall and cause of fall. A third chart displays the recovery status of overboard victims. For instance, of the 83 fishermen seen falling overboard, 27 soon went out of sight, while for 56 fishermen a recovery was attempted within an hour. Of those five could not be recovered and 22 were recovered but could not be resuscitated.
Read the full story at National Fisherman