Fishing's grim death toll continues to rise – Fishupdate.com

FISHING continues to be by far the most dangerous occupation in the UK, according to the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB).

In their annual report published today, the agency says there were 16 fatalities on fishing vessels last year, the highest for seven years and 53 injuries of varying levels of seriousness.The number of vessels lost in 2006 was considerably down on the previous year from 34 to 19, the lowest figure since 2002. Of the 6,346 fishing vessel registered in the UK in 2006, 346 boats reported accidents.

Chief inspector of MAIB, Steven Meyer said: “The number of fishing vessels lost in 2006 was the second lowest in recent years, but the number of fishermen who died was the highest for 7 years.

“A better indication of long-term trends in the UK fishing industry will be Dr Stephen Roberts’ research paper, due to be published shortly, which will show fishing still to be, by many orders of magnitude, the most dangerous occupation in the UK.”

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