Handbook for improving living conditions on board fishing vessels pdf

232 Pages·2010·4.72 MB·English

Handbook
for improving living and
working conditions
on board fishing vessels
Copyright © International Labour Organization 2010
First published 2010
Publications of the International Labour Office enjoy copyright under Protocol 2 of the Universal
Copyright Convention. Nevertheless, short excerpts from them may be reproduced without
authorization, on condition that the source is indicated. For rights of reproduction or translation,
application should be made to ILO Publications (Rights and Permissions), International Labour
Office, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland, or by email:
Preface
There are over 30 million fishers worldwide and at least 15 million of these are work-
ing full time on board fishing vessels.
Work in the fishing sector has many characteristics that set it apart from work in other
sectors. The harvesting of fish and of marine resources takes place in the often-chal-
lenging marine environment. When the weather conditions are harsh, as they often are,
or when the catch itself presents a risk, the rate of accidents and fatalities can be quite
high; in fact, in many countries, fishing is the most hazardous occupation. In cases of
accident or illness, a fisher may be far from professional medical care and must rely on
fellow crewmembers to take care of him or her until brought ashore.
Fishing is also an occupation with long-standing traditions. One of these, found
throughout the world, is that of not paying fishers a set wage, but instead paying
them based on a share of the catch. While this has certain advantages for the fisher,
the system may to lead to very long working hours, a tendency to remain at sea during
bad weather (which would otherwise motivate fishers to return home) and thus
greater risks and more accidents.
Many fishers are owner-operators and often live in remote communities that offer only
limited alternatives for employment. At the same time, for many, fishing is becoming a
more globalized sector; fishers from several different countries may be found on a vessel
with an owner from another state other than their own and flying the flag of yet another.
These and other factors call for special considerations for these workers. However, in
many countries fishers seem to fall, at least in part, through gaps in the system of
laws, regulations and measures that protect other workers which may create a “de-
cent work” deficit. In line with its objective of providing decent work for all, the Inter-
national Labour Organization (ILO) is seeking to prevent this deficit from occuring.
Fishers need global standards that provide protection, reflect their special situation
and allow for sufficient flexibility in order to account for the differences within the
sector and among different ILO member States. Legal protection must not only be
provided for those working on large, industrial fishing vessels, but also on smaller
ones. Standards must take into account the levels of development and the differing
institutional capacities of all ILO member States. Above all, standards must serve to
improve the conditions of as many fishers as possible.
In 2007, the ILO adopted two new instruments specifically tailored for the fishing
sector: the Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 (No. 188) and the Work in Fishing
Recommendation, 2007 (No. 199). These standards demonstrate the ILO’s renewed
commitment to providing decent work for all fishers.
The texts of Convention No. 188 and Recommendation No. 199, as international le-
gal instruments, are written in a specific legal format. What is now called for is a pub-
lication that makes the provisions of these standards come alive through explanation,
discussion, and ideas on how they might be implemented by ILO member States.
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Handbook for improving living and working conditions
on board fishing vessels
This Handbook on improving living and working conditions on board fishing vessels
has been developed to assist competent authorities, representative organizations of
employers and workers (in particular, representative organizations of fishing vessel
owners and fishers), as well as others with an interest in the sector, in order to gain a
better understanding of the provisions of Convention No. 188 and Recommendation
No. 199. In particular, it attempts to look at each of the provisions of these standards
from the point of view of government officials, fishing vessel owners, fishers and in-
spectors. This may help to stimulate national tripartite discussion and may
encourage States to take concrete steps towards implementation and ratification of the
Convention. Most importantly, whether or not a State decides to ratify the Convention
immediately or otherwise, the Handbook will be a useful tool for looking at the current
legal protection of fishers, for analyzing the situation, and for making improvements.
A publication of this nature cannot go into great depth on every single issue covered
by the Convention and Recommendation, nor can it address every question that may
arise concerning the provisions of these standards. The International Labour Office
therefore welcomes, and will seek to address specific questions concerning these in-
struments that may arise during their consideration by member States.
The ILO gratefully acknowledges the financial support for this publication provided
by the Government of Norway, through the Norway-ILO Cooperation Agreement of
2008-2009, a project on Enhancing Labour Inspection Effectiveness. The ILO fur-
ther acknowledges the support provided through the Project on Institutional
Strengthening of the Constituents of the ILO; the Promotion of Convention No. 188
on Work in the Fishing Sector, funded by the Ministry of Labour and Immigration of
Spain, in collaboration with the ILO’s International Training Centre and Spain’s So-
cial Marine Institute; together with the Project for a Rational and Sustainable Devel-
opment of the Fishing Sector, funded by Spain’s Ministry for the Environment and
Rural and Marine Affairs.
The Handbook has been produced by the ILO’s Sectoral Activities Department; in co-
operation with the ILO’s Labour Administration and Inspection Programme, the
Workers’ Activities Bureau and Employers’ Activities Bureau, the International La-
bour Standards Department, the Social Security Department, and the International
Training Centre in Turin, Italy.
This Office is grateful to Mr David Sparks and Mr Domingo Gonzalez for their contri-
bution to the preparation of this publication. The ILO wishes to acknowledge and
thank Ms Vera Albuquerque (Brazil), Mr Peter Ørebech (Norway), Captain Nigel
Campbell (South Africa), Professor Yeong-Woo Jeon (South Korea) and Mr Luis
Ambrosio (Spain) for the country-specific fishing sector case studies they undertook,
which were valuable contributions to the Handbook.
Elizabeth Tinoco,
Director, ILO Sectoral Activities Department.
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Introduction
The objective of the Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 (No. 188) is to ensure that
fishers have decent conditions of work on board fishing vessels, regarding minimum
requirements for work on board; conditions of service; accommodation and food; oc-
cupational health and safety protection; medical care and social security.
The task of revising and developing a comprehensive Convention that covers fish-
ing has been a long and complex process. In 2002, the ILO commenced work on
the drafting of complete and up-to-date international standards for the fishing
sector, in order to guarantee proper protection for fishers on a global scale. This
work involved considerable research by the International Labour Office and, most
importantly, the commitment and deep involvement of the representatives of gov-
ernments, employers (in particular fishing vessel owners) and workers (in particular
fishers’ representatives), and observers from inter-governmental and non-govern-
mental organizations.
The Convention provides flexibility with respect to certain Articles, for example where
member States cannot immediately implement all of the measures provided for in
the Convention. Many provisions can only be implemented following “consultation”
with representative organizations of employers and workers (in particular, represen-
tative organizations of fishing vessel owners and of fishers).
Convention No. 188 revises the Minimum Age (Fishermen) Convention, 1959 (No.
112), the Medical Examination (Fishermen) Convention, 1959 (No. 113), the Fish-
ermen’s Articles of Agreement Convention, 1959 (No. 114) and the Accommodation
of Crews (Fishermen) Convention, 1966 (No. 126). It also covers other important
questions such as health and safety at work; assignment and hours of rest; crew list;
repatriation; recruitment and placement; and social security.
Convention No. 188 is accompanied by the non-binding Recommendation No. 199
concerning work in the fishing sector.
The adoption of the Work in Fishing Convention in 2007 was a step forward in achiev-
ing decent work for all people working on fishing vessels. The Convention deals with
various aspects of work such as better accommodation; food and safety at work; pay-
ment of fishers; medical care at sea and ashore; rest time; contract of employment
and social security. Early and wide ratification is supported by employers, trade un-
ions and other professional organizations in the sector.
Those concerned with the implementation of the Work in Fishing Convention, 2007
may also be involved in, or perhaps have recently completed, the process of imple-
menting and ratifying the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006) (which
specifically excludes fishing vessels from its scope of application). While there are
many obvious differences between the shipping and fishing sectors, there are also
many similarities, as both seafarers and fishers work on board vessels. Therefore, it
may be useful to draw on lessons learned from the implementation and ratification of
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Handbook for improving living and working conditions
on board fishing vessels
the MLC, 2006. Likewise, it may also be useful to coordinate national efforts to im-
plement and ratify the MLC, 2006 and the Work in Fishing Convention, 2007, for al-
though the two Conventions have major differences in structure, many of their
provisions address similar, if not identical, issues. It is also likely that in many coun-
tries existing laws and regulations for seafarers and fishers may overlap.
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Contents
Preface .....................................................................................................3
Introduction ..............................................................................................5
Overview of Convention No.188 and Recommendation No. 199 .....................9
Legal aspects ..........................................................................................11
Administration.........................................................................................19
Part I Definitions ...........................................................................25
Article 1 - Definitions ...........................................................25
Article 2 – Article 5 - Scope ...........................................29–38
Part II General principles.................................................................45
Article 6 and Article 7 - Implementation ..........................45–48
Article 8 - Responsibilities of fishing vessel owners,
skippers and fishers ..............................................51
Part III Minimum requirements .........................................................57
Article 9 - Minimum age ......................................................57
Article 10 – Article 12 - Medical examination....................66–76
Part IV Conditions of service .............................................................81
Article 13 and Article 14 - Manning and hours of rest..............81
Article 15 - Crew list.............................................................89
Article 16 – Article 20 - Fisher’s work agreement ....................92
Article 21 - Repatriation .......................................................99
Article 22 - Recruitment and placement of fishers.................105
Article 23 and Article 24 - Payment of fishers.......................111
Part V Accommodation and food ....................................................117
Article 25 – Article 28 - Accomodation and food ...........117–118
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Handbook for improving living and working conditions
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Part VI Medical care, health protection and social security ................131
Article 29 and Article 30 - Medical care .......................131–132
Article 31 – Article 33 - Occupational safety and
health and accident prevention .....................137–138
Article 34 – Article 37 - Social security ................................148
Article 38 and Article 39 - Protection in case of
work-related sickness, injury or death....................149
Part VII Compliance and enforcement...............................................165
Article 40 – Article 44 - Compliance and
enforcement ...............................................165–180
Part VIII Amendment of Annexes I, II and III ......................................183
Article 45 - Amendment of Annexes I, II and III ....................183
Part IX Final provisions ..................................................................187
Article 46 – Article 54 - Final provisions .......................187–188
Annex 1 - Equivalence in measurement................................................193
Annex 2 - Fishers’ work agreement ......................................................194
Annex 3 - Fishing vessel accommodation..............................................195
Appendix 1 Sample comparative analysis document.................................207
Appendix 2 Protocol of assistance to maritime health services for
pre-sea medical examinations...............................................208
Appendix 3 Examples of medical certificates...........................................210
Appendix 4 Table of requirements for fishing vessels, in accordance
with Annex III of Convention No. 188 ...................................212
Appendix 5 South African Safe manning regulations ................................224
References .........................................................................................225
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