Towards system for the management of safety on board artisanal fishing vessels: Proposal for check-lists and their application

The safety management systems applied at the international level in merchant vessels do not have their equivalent in the vessels dedicated to fishing, and much less to the most numerous sub-sector, artisanal fishing. The article presented here is based on the results of a research project conducted to assess the degree of safety existing in the artisanal fishing fleet of Andalusia, in SW Spain. It offers a set of proposals aimed at improving safety by the production and application of check-lists, as stated in the initial objectives of the project. We therefore present a series of specific working instruments for the detection and correction of the various risks that are frequently faced in the artisanal fisheries sector; these instruments have, in fact, already been applied by the Regional Authorities in the form of risk assessment models, which we present here. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.