February 24, 2026 — The estimated global death toll of fishers around the world for the last few decades has hovered around 24,000 to 32,000 annually, according to a FISH Safety Foundation report from 2023.
However, that same report stated that those estimates are generally considered to be overly conservative. The report, instead, placed the projected death toll at more than 100,000 fishers per year.
November 7, 2022 — Research by the FISH Safety Foundation, commissioned by The Pew Charitable Trusts, found more than 100,000 fishing-related deaths occur annually, or the equivalent of around 300 fisher deaths per day.
The New Zealand-based FISH Safety Foundation is an independent non-profit “committed to providing relevant practical education, access to resources and promoting a positive safety culture in the global fishing industry.” It said the study, “The Human Cost of Fishing,” is “the most-complete analysis to date for the number of global fishing-related fatalities.”