'We've seen a culture shift': Fishermen's group pushes wearing flotation devices
The Grand Manan Fishermen's Association says the use of personal flotation devices in the commercial fishing industry is growing, but more work needs to be done.
Melanie Sonnenberg, the association's program manager, said she wasn't surprised by the Transportation Safety Board's latest push for mandatory use of personal flotation devices in the industry, a popular topic for years.
"There's been a great push with working with suppliers to develop products that are much more commercial fishing friendly," she said.
"We've seen a culture shift here in the industry."
- Make commercial fishermen wear flotation devices, says investigator of capsizing
In New Brunswick, fishing vessels are exempt from occupational safety regulations. However, fishermen in Nova Scotia are not.
The latest recommendation by the Transportation Safety Board to the New Brunswick government and WorkSafeNB was contained in a report on the capsizing of a lobster boat in the Bay of Chaleur last year that left two fishermen dead.
Darren Cole, 45, from Bathurst and Garnet Dickson, 67, from Salmon Beach died when their boat capsized off Salmon Beach, near Bathurst.
The safety board's report said crew members were not wearing personal flotation devices or life jackets when the boat capsized, "which diminished their chance of survival" when they fell overboard.
Resistance in the past
In the past, Sonnenberg said fishermen would head to the local hardware storeto buy personal flotation devices with long, dangling pull tabs that weren't suited for the fishing industry.
But she said products have improved over the years, and fishermen can feel more comfortable with them in the workplace.
"You don't want anything dangling that you can get caught up in," she said.
"People have to find something that suits them, it's a challenging work environment and you can't be in something that doesn't make you feel comfortable."
Push for a change
Sonnenberg made it clear that fishermen are not working in isolation or without regulation.
She said fishing boats are regulated in a number of ways as a workplace, some through Transport Canada, which does require in certain circumstances that a captain decide whether anyone on the fishing boat must wear a personal flotation device.
She said there are also federal labour rules fishermen have to follow.
Sonnenberg said there are questions about where the provincial government's role in enforcing regulations on the decks of fishing boats. She said there is also confusion between the roles of provincial governments and Transport Canada in the fishing industry regarding workplace rules.
She said captains and owners of fishing vessels have always taken measures to protect employees by assessing risks and making sure employees know what the risks are.
"It's no different than if I worked in a store," she said. "There are risks there and your employer's going to make you aware … and that's the same on a fishing boat."
In the meantime, she said, she welcomes education and awareness about the necessity of personal flotation devices for commercial fishermen.
"We're just going to keep going on doing our thing here and encouraging people to find that product that's right for them and be safe," she said.
