Commercial Fishing Vessel Injury Claims

The Risks of Commercial Fishing Work

Commercial fishing can place workers in difficult and unpredictable conditions. Crews may work long hours around heavy equipment, moving lines, slippery decks, sharp tools, rough seas, and powerful machinery, often far from immediate medical care.

The U.S. Coast Guard describes commercial fishing as a high-risk profession and identifies falls overboard, flooding, vessel instability, fires, equipment failures, and poor system maintenance among the hazards affecting fishing vessels and their crews. Common fishing vessel injuries may result from:

• Falls overboard
• Slips and falls on wet or cluttered decks
• Becoming caught in winches, lines, or nets
• Falling equipment or unsecured gear
• Crane and hoist accidents
• Fires or explosions
• Vessel collisions or groundings
• Capsizing or sinking
• Defective equipment
• Inadequate training or supervision
• Fatigue and unsafe working practices

These incidents can cause broken bones, traumatic brain injuries, amputations, spinal cord injuries, crush injuries, hypothermia, drowning, and other serious harm.

The Jones Act and Injured Fishermen

Commercial fishing workers who qualify as seamen may have important protections under the Jones Act.

The Jones Act allows an injured seaman to bring a claim against their employer when employer negligence caused or contributed to an injury suffered in the course of employment. Examples of negligence may include:

• Failing to provide reasonably safe equipment
• Inadequate crew training
• Unsafe work procedures
• Failing to address known hazards
• Improper staffing
• Poor vessel maintenance
• Requiring work under unnecessarily dangerous conditions

Not everyone who works around commercial fishing operations automatically qualifies as a seaman. A worker's duties, relationship to the vessel, and other circumstances may affect which maritime protections apply.

Unseaworthiness Claims

An injured seaman may also have a claim when an unsafe condition aboard the vessel contributed to the accident.

Under general maritime law, vessel owners have a duty to provide a seaworthy vessel. This does not mean the vessel must be perfect. Rather, the vessel, its equipment, and its crew must be reasonably fit for their intended purpose. Courts have recognized that injuries caused by unseaworthy vessels or equipment may support a separate maritime claim.

An unseaworthy condition could involve defective machinery, unsafe equipment, inadequate crew, dangerous deck conditions, or other problems that make the vessel unsuitable for its intended work.

A Jones Act negligence claim and an unseaworthiness claim are different legal theories, although both may arise from the same accident.

Maintenance and Cure

Seamen who become injured or ill while in the service of a vessel may also be entitled to maintenance and cure.

Maintenance generally helps cover reasonable living expenses while the worker is unable to work, while cure refers to necessary medical treatment. Unlike a negligence claim, maintenance and cure generally do not depend on proving that the employer caused the injury.

The obligation traditionally continues until the worker reaches maximum medical recovery, meaning further treatment is no longer expected to improve the condition.

Because these benefits are different from damages available through a negligence claim, injured fishermen may have several overlapping maritime rights after an accident.

Evidence After a Commercial Fishing Injury

Conditions aboard a fishing vessel can change quickly after an accident. Equipment may be repaired, fishing gear replaced, and the vessel sent back to sea. Evidence that may help explain what happened includes:

• Photographs or videos of the vessel and equipment
• Accident and Coast Guard reports
• Witness statements
• Maintenance and inspection records
• Crew schedules and training records
• Vessel logs
• Employment and payroll records
• Safety policies
• Communications about equipment problems
• Medical records

The Coast Guard investigates serious marine casualties, including incidents involving commercial fishing vessels, and its reports may provide additional information about how an accident occurred.

Compensation After a Fishing Vessel Injury

Depending on the circumstances, an injured commercial fisherman may be able to pursue compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, reduced earning capacity, pain and suffering, disability, and other losses.

Fatal accidents may also give surviving family members or the worker's estate legal rights under federal maritime law.

Because the available claims depend heavily on the worker's job, vessel, employer, and location of the accident, determining which laws apply is an important early step.

Morgan & Morgan May Be Able to Help

Commercial fishing injuries can leave workers facing extensive medical treatment and an uncertain ability to return to a physically demanding career. Maritime injury claims also involve laws that differ significantly from ordinary workplace injury cases.

Morgan & Morgan's maritime accident attorneys can investigate the accident, determine which maritime protections may apply, preserve important evidence, and fight for the compensation you may deserve.

Contact Morgan & Morgan for a free, no-obligation case evaluation. With The Fee Is Free™, you pay nothing unless we win your case.