Brussels, 16/05/2008 (Agence Europe) - The social dialogue committee on sea fishing (SSDC) adopted a declaration on actions to be taken in the framework of the EU maritime policy to improve health and safety onboard fishing vessels. The SSDC comprises employers' groups Europeche (the association of national organisations of fishing enterprises in the EU) and the fishing section of COGECA (general committee of agricultural cooperatives in the EU) and ETF for the workers (the European Transport Workers' Federation).
The action plan for the implementation of the EU integrated maritime policy, adopted by the European Commission in October 2008, foresees some measures to 'develop the situation of fishermen at sea'.
The fisheries social partners (employers and trade unions) agree with the European Commission that the first steps to be taken are: - the revision of the current health and safety regulations applying to fisheries, which need to be adapted to match changes in the industry over the past decade. The regulations need to cover both employed and self-employed fishermen as established by ILO (International Labour Organisation) adopted in Geneva in 2007; - the establishment of new measures to improve the situation of people working on board small vessels, which account for a large proportion of the EU fleet.
Before coming forward with new measures or revising existing ones, however, the SSDC says it is necessary to assess the current situation. 'Particular attention should be paid to improving data collection systems on accidents at sea.'
The social partners welcome the European Commission's plan to report on the practical implementation of Directive 93/103/EC on minimum health and safety provisions on board fishing vessels, but want to be consulted before the report is published.
As far as small vessels are concerned, 'first of all, the huge diversity of various types of small vessels operating in Europe should be acknowledged.' The SSDC says that the 'aim is to design measures tailored to vessels' peculiarities rather than establishing general rules and then applying derogations.' The social partners believe that the introduction of measures to improve health and safety should be accompanied by economic incentives.
The SSDC invites the Commission to take into account possible side-effects that the various measures implemented under the common fisheries policy might have on working conditions.
Management measures. Limiting the number of days at sea has very negative effects on health and safety by leading vessels to fish for longer hours during those days, leading to increased fatigue and greater risk of accidents.
State of vessels. Due to the restrictions in place on the construction of new vessels, the EU's fishing fleet mainly comprises outdated vessels. The SSDC therefore recommends that the Commission take into account the study called ERGOSPACE, carried out by the French 'Institut Maritime de Prevention', which clearly illustrates the correlation between the state of the fleet, working conditions and accidents resulting from them on the one hand and common fisheries policy measures regarding fleet management on the other.
Moreover, the 'increased economic pressure brings a drop in the number of crew members with negative consequences on fatigue level and therefore on security levels,' explains the SSDC declaration, which recommends that concerted action be promoted in the field of training to ensure an accident prevention culture. (L.C.)