The UK fishing industry has had a horrific year in terms of its toll of lives lost at sea. Nine fishermen have lost their lives in the first six months of this year, compared to seven in the whole of 2015, as has been laid out in the MAIB Annual Report for 2015.
The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has released its report on the loss of scalloper JMT (M-99) which sank off Rame Head on the 9th of July last year.
With the Icelandic Association for Search and Rescue’s (Ice-Sar) training vessel currently not seaworthy, a debate has opened up on the future of training for seafarers in Iceland.
Almost three years after submitting the Social Partners’ Agreement (SPA) on implementing the ILO Work in Fishing Convention C188, the European Commission (EC) presented on 29 April 2016 the agreement before the Council of the EU. The European Social Partners for Fisheries, Europêche, Cogeca and the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF), have warmly welcomed this step but regret the considerable delay with implementing the SPA that ensures a high level of protection for fishermen in all aspects of their work.
Ratification of the International Labour Organisation’s C188 Work in Fishing Convention appears to be a step closer as the Netherlands government has indicated that the process is now underway.
The European Social Partners for Fisheries, Europêche and the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF), call on all EU Member States to urgently ratify the ILO Convention that provides minimum standards to protect fishers in all aspects of their work. In a joint declaration signed on 14 April in The Hague, The Netherlands, the social partners also reminded the European Institutions about their responsibilities in this process.
Cork fishermen are set to take UK daily newspaper the Guardian to court for defamation over an article published last November alleging that migrant workers in Ireland were being mistreated in the fishing industry, reports TheJournal.ie
During a meeting held last week in Sofia, the European Social Partners in Fisheries, the ETF and Europêche, promoted together with the ILO the swift ratification of the ILO Work in Fishing Convention C188. The event was also attended by high-level representatives of the Bulgarian Ministries of Labour, Transport and Agriculture, who share competence over the ratification of the Convention.