According to a recent report from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, those who worked in fishing and hunting suffered a much lower rate of fatal injuries in 2021 than they did in 2020.
The last statistics available for the Bureau’s report came from 2021.
In 2020, the fatal injury rate for fishers and hunters was about 132 per 100,000 employees in the industry. In 2021, the death rate was just over 75 per 100,000.
The Bureau’s statistics do not further break down the death rate between professional hunters and people who fish.
The news was not all good for the fishing industry. In 2020, fishing and hunting had the highest fatality rate among occupations reviewed.
In 2021, the industry came in second behind logging workers. However, the industry still had a higher fatality rate than other occupations that are well known to be dangerous fields, including roofing, mining and working in the steel industry.
It is also important to remember that the fatality rate is just one way to measure how dangerous a profession is. People should not forget that for every person who works on a fishing boat and dies in a workplace incident, many more suffer significant injuries.
Some of these injuries can cause permanent medical problems that could keep victims out of work for years or even for the rest of their lives.
Alaska victims of fishing accidents and their families have legal options
Admiralty law works differently from the laws that cover workplace accidents on the land. This is one reason why accidents on the open seas can be complicated, especially when they involve large-scale disasters like the sinking of a vessel.
However, there are several legal options available to victims of fishing accidents and their families. These options may allow a grieving family to pursue compensation for the loss of their loved one who may well have also been the family’s primary breadwinner.