imo and the safety of fishing vessels: past, present and future

The purpose of the Voluntary Guidelines is to provide a general guidance on safe practices for the design,
information on the design, construction, and equipment of small fishing vessels with a view to promoting the
safety of the vessel and safety and health of the crew. They are not intended as a substitute for national laws
and regulations but may serve as a guide to those concerned with framing such national laws and regulations.
Each competent authority responsible for the safety of fishing vessels should ensure that the provisions of
these guidelines are adapted to its specific requirements, having due regard to the size and type of vessels,
their intended service and area of operation.
The Guidelines applies, unless otherwise stated, to new decked fishing vessels of 12 m in length and over, but
less than 24 m in length. Nevertheless, even where not otherwise stated, the competent authority should as far
as reasonable and practical give consideration to the application of these provisions to existing decked fishing
vessels.
The provisions of the guidelines do not apply to fishing vessels for sport or recreation or to processing vessels.
The contents are quite similar to those of the code, but having in mind that they applied to smaller
vessels. They address, among other things, construction, watertight integrity and equipment; stability and
associated seaworthiness; machinery and electrical installations; fire protection, fire detection, fire extinction
and fire-fighting equipment; protection of the crew; life-saving appliances; radio communications;
navigational equipment and crew accommodation.
8.4.- FAO/ILO/IMO Document for Guidance on Fishermen’s Training and Certification and its revision
The terms of reference of the Tripartite Meeting include “to assess work done by the FAO/ILO/IMO
Working Group and by the FAO and the IMO”. This refers primarily to the joint FAO/ILO/IMO work to revise
the Document for Guidance.
The original Document for Guidance, prepared by a joint FAO/ILO/IMO Working Group in the early
1980s and published in 1985, takes account of the related ILO and IMO Conventions and FAO experience and
provides guidance for the institution, amendment or development of national programmes for the vocational
training of any category of fishermen. The Document concerns the training and certification of both smallscale
and industrial maritime fishermen, although the parts concerning small-scale fishing are rather limited. It
notes that programmes for fishermen should be based on an analysis of the prevailing needs and conditions in
each particular area and that these programmes should be prepared by competent authorities with
organizations involved in the fishing industry and the overall welfare and development of the fishing
community. The sociological and educational backgrounds of the fishing community concerned are to be
considered to ensure that the standards are realistic and can be attained.
8.5.- Revision of the Document for Guidance
In 1997 the 68 th Session of the Maritime Safety Committee proposed the revision of the Document for
Guidance primarily to bring it into line with the provisions of the STCW-F Convention and the FAO Code of
Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. At its 270 th Session (November 1997), the ILO’s Governing Body
considered the proposal and authorized the holding of a Joint FAO/ILO/IMO Working Group on Fishermen’s
Training in London from 12 to 16 January 1998, with a composition of four representatives from the ILO (two
Employer and two Worker), two representatives from the FAO and two from the IMO. Authorization for this
work was also given by the FAO. A second session, held in January 1999, was authorized by the 69 th Session
of the Maritime Safety Committee (May 1998), the 273 rd Session of the ILO Governing Body (November 1998)
and the FAO.
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