Safety Aboard Fishing Vessels NEW WINCH-HEAD CONTRIBUTES TO TRAWL ER SAFETY: Operational methods used to handle the heavy fishing gear employed in otter trawling have remained practically unchanged since the introduction of this fishery in Boston in 1905. Improvements in trawler construction and design, more efficient propulsion machinery, and navigational aids and fishing equipment have progressed steadily, while trawl-net setting and hauling operations on board the offshore trawling fleet differ but slightly today from those performed by the fishing crews over the past 30 years. In an effort to eliminate manual handling of wire cables in two of the most hazardous operations connected with this fishery, the U. S. Bureau of Commercial Fisheries recently installed a new type winch-head on board the Bureau's exploratory fishing and gear research vessel Delaware. Records indicate that many serious accidents occur at the winch-heads when fishermen are using the messenger wire or fish tackle to "hook-up" the towing cables or hoist inboard the fish catch in the cod end of the trawl net. Both operations entail wrapping the wires around a revolving winch-head with the friction of the wire on the drum producing the power point for the lifting operation. Depending on the weight and strain involved, from 4 to 7 complete turns of the wire are needed to hook up the towing wires or to hoist the fish bag inboard. Even under ideal weather conditions, performance of these tasks are considered dangerous, with 4. Installation of Pilothouse Winch Control Switch (Electric-Driven Winches Only): Should be installed within easy reach of man in pilothouse for use in emergencies only. Would provide a double check on winch operator and introduce extra safety factor to a potentially-dangerous operation. 5. Inadequate Guards on Chain-Driven Power Takeoffs: Many medium trawlers operate trawl winches by means of a direct-chain drive from main engine. Invariably, the chain drives are poorly guarded and jammed up in an almost inaccessible location. Recommend a complete guard enclosing all chain drives. 6. Smooth Deck Surfacing: Injuries resulting from falls on shipboard comprise a large part of all fishing fleet insurance claims. While deck footing conditions during actual fishing operations are admittedly hazardous, addition of abrasive material to main deck working areas would assure safer footing. Application of skid-resistant materials presents an inexpensive means of combating shipboard injuries from falls, and should be required on all fishing vessels. 7. Insufficient Clearance on Mast Ladders: Inspection of mast ladders show that many are set too close to the mast with insufficient toe room for climber. Ladders should be ** Fig. 2 Trawl-wire spooler on display at a safety ex hibit. are invariably fought in enclosed spaces. Replace with dry powder or CO,-type extinguishers. 11. Rigging of Lifelines During Heavy Weather: When vessels are jogging or running in heavy weather, lifelines should be rigged from forecastle to breakdeck and further aft to galley entrance if indicated. 12. Pyrofax Gas Burners in Galley and Engine Room: Gas heavier than air and highly explosive--extremely dangerous when leaks occur and gas settles in bilges. 13. Worn or Slippery Companionway Steps: Frequently found on medium and small boats and unnoticed until an accident happens. Addition of treads to steps would afford maximum protection. 14. Unvented Fuel Filling Pipes: Vent pipes should be required for all fuel-filling lines to prevent overflow of fuel into bilges. 15. Inspection Standards for all Commercial Fishing Vessels: Fishing vessels should be subject to official inspection and maintenance standards, with certification by marine surveyors. With the cooperation of the fishing industry and insurance companies, standards can be developed for various classes of boats, based on tonnage, type of fishing, or combinations of both factors. Major subjects would include-hull construction, engine installation, deck and fishing equipment condition and layout, fire-fighting equipment, safety appliances, life-saving equipment, and periodic inspections. ** UNSAFE PRACTICES ABOARD NEW ENGLAND TRAWLERS LISTED: The U. S. Bureau of Commercial Fisheries New England Safety Program staff has prepared a list of unsafe practices found on New England large and medium otter trawlers. The list is "far from complete," but elimination of these hazards and practices could contribute greatly towards reducing the present accident rate, and save both lives and money. That drop was partially offset by higher frozen fillet prices. This subgroup price index this October was up 11.6 percent as compared with the same month of 1957 because prices for all items in the subgroup were up from 42.0 percent for frozen haddock fillets to only 0.3 percent for frozen shrimp. Ocean perch fillet prices were up by 11.0 percent and flounder fillets by 7.7 percent. Canned fishery products prices in October this year were about unchanged from the preceding month, but were 2.1 percent above October 1957. From September to October this year an increase of 3.6 percent in pink salmon prices just about offset a drop of 18.8 percent in California sardine prices. Higher prices for canned Maine sardines (up 27.4 percent), canned light meat tuna (up 4.4 percent), and California sardine (1.2 percent) resulted in a 2.1-percent increase in the subgroup index from October 1957 to October this year. During the same period canned salmon prices were down about 5.4 percent. The packing season for Maine sardines and Pacific salmon was about over by the end of October, but tuna canning continued at a record level and the California sardine pack increased so rapidly that it has created a serious marketing problem. Table 1 - Wholesale Average Prices and Indexes for Edible Fish and Shellfish, October 1958 With Comparisons 1/Represent average prices for one day (Monday or Tuesday) during the week in which the 15th of the month occurs. These prices are published as indicators of movement and not necessarily absolute level. Daily Market News Service "Fishery Products Reports" should be referred to for actual prices. 2/Revised. 3/Revised. International FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION REPORT ON MEETING ON COSTS AND The first international meeting on Costs and Earnings of Fishing Enterprises, called by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), was held in London, September 813, 1958. Experts from 20 countries attended and discussed technical papers dealing with the various problems, questions, and investigations concerned with costs and earnings in the fishing industries of their countries. The meeting focused attention on many questions of crucial interest to all sections of the world's fishing industries. It is of special interest to gov ernments which are deeply involved financially in the maintenance and development of fishing industries. Subsidies, credit schemes, tax and duty concessions, port and shore facilities, insurance, price support and marketing schemes, are some examples of Government participation in the fishing industry. The interest of the fishing industry itself has led to much investigation of costs and earnings, especially in the countries possessing important and highly developed fishing industries. But there has been little collaboration or exchange of ideas and information between the investigators, so they have not benefitted from each other's work. The meeting enabled the experts to exchange views and experience and discuss the methods used to study the subject in various countries. The problems and difficulties encountered in the investigation of costs and earnings in the fishing industries are in themselves a hindrance to the rational development of fisheries. The meeting should do much to point the way in many countries towards finding the facts about costs and earnings and should help to make possible the planning of realistic programs for the development of fisheries on a sound economic basis. Represented at the meeting were Belgium, Canada, Denmark, El Salvador, Finland, France, German Federal Republic, Ghana, Guatemala, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Malaya, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Turkey, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States, and FAO. The first item of the agenda was concerned with the interest of government authorities and of those in the fishing industry in studies of costs and earnings. Most of the representatives present had participated in the discussion and it was clear that costs and earnings studies were necessary for a great variety of purposes. Many were related to government intervention in the industry, both with the object of enhancing the welfare of fishermen and others working in the industry and with the regulatory functions of government. In some cases there were statutory requirements to be met; in others the results of costs and earnings studies were required to develop government policy and to judge success in its implementation. Use of costs and earnings studies in connection with managerial decisions within fishing enterprises and other relations within the industry such as, for instance, price share and wage agreements, was not yet as well developed as the governmental use of these studies. There was general agreement that such studies need to be designed with a specific purpose firmly in mind. With regard to methods used in studying costs and earnings, there were considerable differences between fisheries conducted mainly by small boats skippered by their owners and those using large vessels, normally owned by corporations, particularly in highly-developed long-distance fisheries. Discussion of concepts, definitions, and conventions used in inquiries into the costs and earnings of fishery enterprises occupied the meeting for a considerable time and brought to light a number of problems encountered in various countries. Among them was that of defining a fishing enterprise, the allocation of earnings between fishing and other activities in mixed enterprises, and the treatment of such cost items as depreciation, interest, and insurance. There was general agreement that a more standardized approach to these concepts would be highly desirable, and the suggestion was made that FAO should, in conjunction with experts from the various countries concerned, work out proposals in this regard for eventual discussion by a similar meeting of experts. The meeting next dealt with the respective merits of different methods of investigation used in studies of costs and earnings of fishing enterprises. Participants related their experience with both continuing and periodic studies, and discussed the advantages and disadvantages of entrusting the conduct of such studies to government agencies, industry organizations and universities, and research organizations. The methods to be used in the analysis of the results of studies of costs and earnings were the subject matter for the sessions this morning. The last business session of the Conference discussed a paper on the effect of fishery regulations on costs and earnings of fishing enterprises. It was con International (Contd.):' cluded that, in the past, fishery regulations had been framed mainly with a view to their biological efficiency and ease of administration; and that development of costs and earnings studies and joint analysis of their results by biologists, administrators, economists, and fishing operators might make it possible to take more account of the effect of these regulations on the operating results of fishing enterprises. The following 22 papers were submitted by the various delegates attending the meeting: 1. Purposes of Costs and Earnings Studies in Fisheries: The Government's Point of View (W. C. MacKenzie, Canada). 2. The Need and Value of Costs and Earnings Studies in the Fishing Industry as Basis of Government Action in the United States (R. A. Kahn, United States). 3. Costs and Earnings in the West German Deep Sea Fishery (G. Meseck, Germany). 4. Research on Commercial Fishing Industry Costs and Earnings in the United States (W. H. Stolting and A. T. Murray, United States). 5. Costs and Earnings Studies in Fisheries in the Netherlands (A. G. U. Hildebrandt, Netherlands). 6. Fundamental Activities of the State in Polish Fisheries (S. Laszczynski, Poland). 7. The Point of View of Governments and Other Public Authorities (Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and Scottish Home Department, United Kingdom). 8. Analysis of Costs and Earnings in Polish Fisheries (B. Noetzel, Poland). 9. The Collection of Data Related to the Costs and Earnings of British Herring Catches (Herring Industry Board, United Kingdom). 10. Concepts, Definitions and Conventions in Present Inquiries (Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and Scottish Home Department, United Kingdom). 11. Concepts, Definitions and Conventions in Costs and Earnings Studies of the Fisheries Industry (C. C. Osterbind, United States). 12. Costs and Earnings of Fishing Enterprises in Canada: Concepts, Definitions and Conventions (J. Proskie, Canada). 13. Statistical Information Required by Commercial Fishermen of British Columbia on Costs and Earnings of Fishermen and Fishing Enterprises (United Fishermen and Allied Workers' Union of British Columbia, Canada). 14. Concepts, Definitions and Conventions (E. S. Holliman and A. E. Ovenden, United Kingdom). 15. Method and Enforcement of Costs and Earnings of Fisheries Industry in Japan (Matsuya Onda, Japan). 16. Merits of Different Kinds of Investigational Methods (E. S. Holliman and A. E. Ovenden, United Kingdom). 17. Methods of Analysis of Collected Accounts (E. S. Holliman and A. E. Ovenden, United Kingdom). 18. Interpretation of Detailed Statistics (K. O. H. Michielsen, Belgium). 19. Statistical Analysis of Costs and Earnings in the Fishing Industry (A. G. U. Hildebrandt, Netherlands). 20. Statistical Techniques for the Analysis of Costs and Earnings (A. Zellner, United States). 21. Types of Fishery Regulation and Some Economic Implications (R. J. H. Beverton, United Kingdom). 22. Costs and Earnings Studies in Fisheries in Denmark: Concepts, Definitions and General Conclusions (S. N. Sorensen, Denmark). Note: Also see Commercial Fisheries Review, July 1958, p. 52. * WORLD MEETING ON SARDINE A World Scientific Meeting on the Biology of Sardines will be held at Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Headquarters in Rome, Italy, from September 21 to 28, 1959. The holding of this meeting next year was proposed by scientists of several countries concerned with sardine research, who considered that the time had arrived to have an international gathering for the discussion of common problems concerned with the biology of sardines and their environment. A Prospectus, issued by FAO, gives an agenda, program, some details of these problems, a full explanation of why such a meeting is regarded as necessary, and the results expected of it. The meeting should bring together not only Government participants, but scientists and other persons from private institutions engaged in the study of the biology of sardines and their environments, their commercial fisheries, and the effect of those fisheries on the sardine stocks. Special attention will be given to the problem of fluctuations of sardine populations and catches. It is expected that the meeting will make recommendations for future international cooperation in forecasting fluctuations and how such cooperation could be made possible. Participants are expected to present written contributions for discussion and these, subject to decisions of the meeting, may eventually be printed. The proposed program of the meeting includes these subjects for discussion: (1) Past and present techniques of studying fluctuations in the size of sardine populations. (2) Review of fluctuations in catches of sardines and their possible causes. (3) Possible future approaches to the study of fluctuations in catches of sardines. (4) Recommendations for future international cooperation in forecasting and means whereby such cooperation could be made possible. Further details may be obtained from H. Rosa, Jr., Secretary, World Scientific Meeting on the Biology of Sardines, Fisheries Division, FAO, Rome, Italy. |