(30 August – 3 September 2004, Noumea, New Caledonia)
Original: English
www.spc.int/coastfish/sections/training

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1. In early 2003, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations undertook a survey on fisheries-related sea safety in the Pacific Islands region 1 . The objective was to consolidate experience gained by selected countries in safety at sea, with a view of improving ongoing and future activities in the region. A major conclusion of the survey was that the majority of maritime casualties and loss of life in the Pacific Islands region is associated with small fishing vessels, which usually receive the least attention in terms of legislation, construction standards, enforcement strategies, regional discussions, training on proper use, and other schemes to improve safety.
2. A major conclusion of the FAO survey was that an examination of these problems from the perspective of several different disciplines could result in progress that has so far been elusive. It was suggested that a meeting, attended by motivated people, focused on these challenging issues, oriented to small fishing vessels, and co-hosted by SPC, could have a very positive effect on regional and national sea safety programmes.
3. The FAO/SPC Regional Expert Consultation on Sea Safety in Small Fishing Vessels was held in Suva, Fiji, from 9 to 13 February 2004. The purpose of the expert consultation was two-fold:
1) Address and progress four important issues in fisheries sea safety from the perspectives of several relevant disciplines. These issues were: a) Appropriate sea safety regulations for small fishing vessels; b) Improvements in sea safety awareness programmes; c) Improving the safety of fibreglass skiffs through construction standards; d) Enhancing systems of sea accident data recording.
2) Formulate plans for future sea safety programmes.
4. Participants included artisanal fishermen, a legal specialist, boat-builders, and personnel from government fisheries, maritime agencies and international organisations
(IMO, FAO, SPC). Those who participated did so in their personal capacity, rather than representing their country or organisation. The aim was to compile important considerations on the above issues, including lessons learned from recent experience, to inform national authorities with responsibilities in various areas on the appropriate action to take. The findings were compiled into a set of recommendations, which aim at developing and implementing co-ordinated national sea safety strategies.
1
Tuvalu, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji and Kiribati

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5. The expert consultation recommended that improved small boat safety would best be achieved through the development and implementation of coordinated national strategies , which should include:
 the support (and where necessary establishment) of a consultative national stakeholder framework (e.g. national sea safety coordinating group), and the identification of committed people or “drivers”
;
 the generation of political will at a national level to address small vessel sea safety;
 ongoing sea safety awareness programmes , with special emphasis on the development of channels for the effective distribution of appropriate and updated materials, and evaluation of impact;
 the development of appropriate and sensitive legislation for small fishing vessels, including the carriage of safety equipment, training and certification requirements and construction standards;
 the determination of minimum mandatory requirements for each class of small fishing vessel, taking full account of the difficulties associated with cost, remote communities, and availability of equipment;
 the full use of existing institutions and community-based structures , for increasing compliance, data collection, training and awareness, taking into account the time and resources required;
 the development and maintenance of national sea accident databases ;
 support for the establishment of an SPC fishing vessel safety at sea special interest group and associated newsletter and the development of additional sea safety awareness resource materials;
 investigation of the advantages and disadvantages of the establishment of small fishing vessel registration and inspection schemes ;
 formal and informal training directed at fishermen, fishing communities, government staff, NGOs, the private sector and other stakeholders;
 consideration of the inclusion of sea safety as an integral part of fisheries management and development initiatives;
 development and phased implementation of appropriate enforcement procedures to ensure compliance.

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6. The above recommendations to improve sea safety in small fishing vessels were developed during the first part of the consultation, while the second part (day 4 and 5) focused on implementation of the recommendations.
7. It was acknowledged that there was considerable variability in assistance needs across the very diverse countries of the Pacific Islands region. This suggests that assistance must be tailored to individual countries and to do so may require substantial consultation to “get it right”.
8. Participants also came to the consensus that while it is important to take advantage of external assistance, improving sea safety is a national responsibility. Therefore, the priority should be to increase national capability and to complement national efforts rather than act as a substitute for national efforts. For instance, the identification of national “drivers” was seen as an essential pre-requisite to any new small vessel safety programme. Those drivers may be the fisheries or maritime authorities themselves but may also include motivated individuals from other government departments (navy, police, etc), the private sector, NGOs, fishing associations or the community at large.
9. The consultation suggested that one way of raising awareness and providing feed-back on the recommendations would be to discuss the issue of small vessel safety at upcoming regional meetings, such as the Association of Pacific Islands Maritime Training Institutions and Maritime Authorities (APIMTIMA) held in May 2004 and the Heads of fisheries in
August 2004. It is also expected that sea safety will be on the agenda at the next SPC
Committee of Representatives and Governments Administration (CRGA) in November 2004.
10. The present session on small vessel safety has several purposes:
 present the Consultation recommendations to country delegates;
 raise the profile of sea safety in the region;
 identify national commitment and likely national drivers;
 gauge the support/need for external assistance and, if required, formulate a request for donor intervention which may include an FAO TCP project with SPC assisting in its coordination, an IMO project aimed at covering important foundation activities (e.g. national accident databases) and/or a longer term regional small vessel safety programme based at SPC.

Assess the need for, and possibly recommend the establishment of an SPC special interest group on fishing vessel safety and associated bulletin.