Center for Maritime Safety and Health Studies

Commercial Fishing

Commercial fishing involves the harvest of fish and other seafood from their natural habitats. These industries are dependent on a continued supply of the natural resource and require the use of specialized vessels. In 2015, over 9.7 billion pounds of seafood was harvested in the United States earning over $5.2 billion. Species that contributed the most to this revenue include shrimp, Pacific salmon, Pollock, and lobster¹. There are approximately 31,000 commercial fishermen in the United States² using a variety of different fishing gear and vessels.

Commercial fishing is one of the most dangerous occupations in the United States. During 2000–2015, an annual average of 42 deaths occurred in the commercial fishing industry; this is a fatality rate of 117 deaths per 100,000 workers in commercial fishing, compared with an average of 4 deaths per 100,000 workers among all U.S. workers³. Many commercial fishing operations are characterized by hazardous working conditions, strenuous labor, long work hours, and harsh weather. Common hazards include vessel disasters, falls overboard, and a variety of gear and equipment onboard.

NIOSH maintains the Commercial Fishing Incident Database (CFID), a surveillance system for workplace fatalities in the commercial fishing industry in the United States. A review of the data from 2000–2015 found that 725 commercial fishermen died while fishing in the United States. Nearly half of these fatalities (354, 49%) occurred after a vessel disaster, 30% (221) occurred when a fisherman fell overboard, and 12% (87) resulted from an injury onboard. The remaining 63 (9%) fatalities occurred either while diving or from onshore injuries. For more information on this industry, visit the NIOSH Commercial Fishing Safety Topic Page.

References:

1. NMFS [2016] Fisheries of the United States, 2015. By Lowther A, Liddel M. National Marine Fisheries Service, Office of Science and Technology, http://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/commercial-fisheries/fus/fus15/index
2. BLS [2015] Table 11b. Household data annual averages; Employed persons by detailed occupation and age. In: Current Population Survey. Washington DC: Bureau of Labor Statistics, https://www.bls.gov/cps/
3. BLS [2016] Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (2000 forward), all United States, Fishing. Washington, DC: Bureau of Labor Statistics, https://www.bls.gov/data/#injuries