New report says that every year, during the N.C. Seafood Festival, the annual Blessing of The Fleet is held along the waterfront, where they remember the fishermen who have died while working in this dangerous business. Wreathes are sent in by family members and are cast onto the waters in memory of their lost loved ones.
From bad weather to rough seas and regulations that send them out into those conditions, commercial fishermen work in the United States’ most dangerous industry. As the annual workplace fatality report released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics commercial fishermen faces more deaths on job. Laura Williamson, communications manager with
the Environmental Defense Fund, said the report shows commercial fishing has the highest fatality rate of any industry in the country, with 60 times the average risk for American workers.
Chris McCaffity, a commercial snapper/grouper fisherman in Morehead City, said above all for fishermen weather remain the most obvious danger. he has experienced hailstorms that he said were like machine gun fire. But the weather isn’t the only danger. He recalls that one time when his fishing boat broke down and he had to call a friend to come tow it to shore. While he and his fellow fishermen were waiting, another ship came up and started bearing down on his boat. The ship failed to respond to the radio.
It is fact that weather ad seas are unpredictable, but sometimes fishermen have to go out in conditions they know aren’t safe. Experts believe that the dangers of fishing are made worse by short fishing seasons that create a race among fishermen to catch as much as possible before the season closes and encourages them to go out regardless of weather conditions and keep exhausted crews out on the water.
