News release

Today, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) is issuing a recommendation to enhance commercial fishing safety in Canada. It is issued as part of the investigation (M20A0434) into the fatal 2020 sinking of the scallop boat Chief William Saulis near Digby, Nova Scotia, which resulted in the death of one crew member. Five crew members are still classified as missing.

On 15 December 2020, shortly after midnight, the Chief William Saulis with six crew members onboard, departed Chignecto Bay, New Brunswick, to return to port in Digby, Nova Scotia. Shortly after 05:50 am, the vessel’s emergency position-indicating radio beacon activated, 12 nautical miles off the coast of Digby. Search and rescue deployed and recovered the body of one crew member approximately ten and a half hours later. The vessel was eventually located a month later near Delaps Cove, Nova Scotia.

Commercial fishing is one of the most hazardous occupations in the country, with approximately 11 fish harvesters dying every year. “Over the past 30 years, the TSB has been sounding the alarm over the numerous safety deficiencies that continue to put at risk the lives of Canadian fish harvesters,” says Kathy Fox, Chair of the TSB. “Safety is a shared responsibility. Too many fish harvesters still don’t make it home from what could have been a preventable accident. How many more people have to be lost at sea before these changes are made?”

Recommendation to Transport Canada

Both the Canada Shipping Act, 2001 and the Fishing Vessel Safety Regulations require a vessel’s authorized representative, in this case Yarmouth Sea Products Limited, to provide written safety procedures that familiarize vessel crews with operational and emergency activities. While the vessel owner had provided a manual for vessel operations and safety, most of the safety procedures were based on templates provided by Transport Canada. The investigation found that these templates did not include all procedures required by regulation.

As seen with the Chief William Saulis, many company manuals may be incomplete if based mostly on these Transport Canada templates. Without Transport Canada oversight to validate that the written procedures required by regulation on board fishing vessels have been developed and that crew are knowledgeable of their content, there is a risk that fishing operations will continue without guidance critical to support the safety of the crew and the vessel.

The ongoing lack of regulatory oversight, as evidenced in this occurrence, means that fishing crews are routinely operating on vessels without even knowing how to stay safe or how to respond when things go wrong.

Therefore, the Board is recommending that:

Developing and sustaining a strong safety culture in the fishing industry is required to foster greater compliance with regulations, in particular with respect to vessel stability and emergency preparedness. This occurrence raises concerns around four systemic safety issues identified on the TSB Watchlist: regulatory surveillance, commercial fishing safety, fatigue management and safety management.

See the investigation page for more information.