Fishing is clearly a dangerous occupation. When compared to other risky jobs, fishing consistently ranks at the top in terms of accidents and fatalities. For this reason, there are federal and state safety guidelines that apply to commercial fishing operations. The US Congress is currently reviewing an update to the most recent safety legislation contained in the Commercial Fishing Industry Vessel Safety Act of 1988. Despite the need for improved safety practices in the industry, little is currently known about the level of compliance with current safety regulations, or the extent to which changes in the existing regulations will impact the viability of fisheries. To make matters worse, fishermen represent a predominantly self-employed workforce and are therefore directly vulnerable to seasonal changes and economic downturns, as well as higher costs associated with stricter safety regulations. To help improve safety practices in this industry, it is essential to understand how fishermen perceive the risks they face on the job, and more importantly how that perception translates into action and investment in safety education and equipment.

To further these objectives, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Maine Sea Grant program funded the study “Safety and Compliance in the Maine Commercial Fishing Industry” (Principal Investigator: Mary Davis; 2008-2010; Grant No. R-08-03). The purpose of this study was to investigate and characterize the current level of safety preparedness in the industry, as well as explore risk perception and compliance behaviors in Maine commercial fishermen.

As part of this study, a questionnaire was administered during at sea boardings of commercial fishing vessels in cooperation with the Maine Marine Patrol. The questionnaire covered topics such as safety equipment and training, vessel and crew characteristics, demographic information on the captain (age, sex, education level, etc.) and safety training. The questionnaire also solicited information on the vessel captains’ perception of risks in fishing and more generally in daily life. 100% of fishermen that were asked to take part in the study agreed to do so. The following maps represent the geographic locations of all vessels boarded as well as the home ports of the surveyed fishermen.

The left image below indicates Home Ports of Boarded Vessels with blue circles. The right image indicates the Geographic Locations of the Boarded Vessels.

The following tables provide a breakdown of the vessel boardings by Marine Patrol launch port and fishery. In the current study, it was not feasible to collect data from off-shore vessels. That said, it is important to point out that the sampled vessels are highly representative of the inland fisheries in Maine.

Launch Port Name	Number of Observations	% of Total
Boothbay	31	12%
Jonesport	53	20%
Kennebunkport	21	8%
Lubec	32	12%
NE Harbor	40	15%
Rockland	47	18%
S Portland	35	14%
Total	259	100%

Fishery	Number of Observations	% of Total
Lobster/Crab	206	80%
Scallop	9	3%
Shrimp	4	2%
Urchin / Sea Cucumber	36	14%
Other	4	2%
Total	259	100%