Wages, working conditions and living standards remain significant risks in fisheries. Many fishers are paid through share of catch or production-based catch bonus systems that create income instability and incentivise excessive hours and unsafe practices. Workers face deductions for food, equipment
Mental health and psychosocial risks are widespread in fisheries and are closely linked to the systemic conditions of the work. Fishers work in isolated, confined environments for extended periods, separated from family and support networks. Combined with long hours, fatigue, safety-critical
Climate change is reshaping systemic risks within the sector. As fish stocks move or decline, vessels travel further from shore and remain at sea for longer periods, increasing worker isolation, extending exposure to hazardous conditions and heightening dependence on employers and vessel operators
Exposure to fuels, lubricants, chemicals and refrigerants creates additional risks for fishers. Biological hazards, including infectious disease, are compounded by prolonged periods at sea, crowded living conditions aboard and limited access to healthcare – a fisher who falls ill weeks from shore
Long working hours, irregular work patterns, physically demanding tasks and pressure to maximise catches contribute to fatigue and reduced alertness, increasing the likelihood of accidents on a vessel where machinery, heavy loads and an unstable deck are already part of the dangerous working
Fishing remains one of the most hazardous occupations in the world, with an estimated 34,000 fishers dying at work every year according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Fishers face a combination of physical, environmental and psychosocial risks, and prevention requires robust
It begins with establishing what standards apply and where a company's own commercial terms create risk, moves to a joint assessment conducted with the workers affected, opens a dialogue on the root causes those
Obligations must
Working with the ITF on HREDD in road transport follows four stages, each building on the last. The process begins with establishing what standards apply and where a company's own commercial terms create risk, moves on to an evidence-based assessment conducted with the workers affected, opens a
Companies must address the commercial terms that create human and labour rights risks. Procurement practices – rates, delivery windows, tender criteria and payment terms – are where road transport risk originates. HREDD that examines suppliers without examining the buyer's own pricing and scheduling
