Mr. Chair, my name is Bill Nash. Following on from the DFO presentation, I'd like to give a brief overview on the stability requirements for small fishing vessels. I'll be covering the following points during my presentation: the current stability requirements, the application of risk factors, and the proposed new requirements. And then I'll end with a brief summary.
What is ship stability? Simply put, ship stability is a measure of a vessel's ability to remain upright in a seaway. A stability booklet sets out the various flotation and stability requirements to be used to instruct the master and crew about the safe limits under which a vessel can load and operate--in other words, they would be calculations for when the vessel is fully loaded, full of fish, or in a light condition, or has ice accretion in the upper deck--all of which would provide information on the characteristics of the vessel and its ability to remain at sea safely.
All fishing vessels over 150 gross tons--we refer to them as large fishing vessels--are required to have stability calculations and a stability booklet. Small fishing vessels that are between 15 and 150 gross tons also require stability booklets if they are carrying capelin or herring, as these fish react like fluid in the fish hold and can cause stability problems. For other vessels, it's dependent on the attending marine safety inspector whether the vessel requires a stability assessment or not.
There is no requirement for small fishing vessels under 15 gross tons to have a stability assessment, as most traditional small fishing vessels that constitute the bulk of the inshore fleet are not expected to have stability concerns associated with their design and would therefore not be required to have a stability booklet. However, Transport Canada recommends that all fishers assess the stability characteristics of their vessels, including those under 15 gross tons.
As you may be aware, the Transportation Safety Board has identified stability as a contributing factor in many small vessel incidents and accidents and, as a consequence, has made recommendations to us that all fishing vessels be subject to a stability assessment. In response to this and to clarify our policy for marine safety inspectors in requiring a stability assessment for those vessels between 15 and 150 gross tons, Transport Canada issued a ship safety bulletin in May of this year outlining what would allow a marine safety inspector to require additional stability tests where seaworthiness may be questioned.
A self-assessment form was provided that outlined six risk factors that could affect the stability of a vessel. In other words, stability assessments would only be required when one of the following at-risk factors exist: there's an anti-roll tank fitted to the vessel, a carriage of liquid cargo or live wells, substantial top weight, a vessel operating in an area and time of year where icing to the upper structure may occur, vessels with significant windage--in other words, high-sided vessels--and those that have made structural modifications or have had a change in their fishing operations.
The bulletin was distributed to all owners of small fishing vessels, even those below 15 gross tons, and it was done to raise their awareness of the risks and encourage them to obtain stability booklets where the risk factors are present.
We're in the process of developing new fishing vessel safety regulations applicable to vessels under 150 gross tons. Requirements for stability booklets may be extended to all new and existing vessels more than 15 metres in length, and vessels from 9 to 15 metres that have specific risk factors. A phase-in period, which is yet to determined, would apply.
Under the proposed regulations, vessels that are more than six metres in length and do not require a stability booklet must pass a simplified safety assessment and have an indicator, such as a hull marking to indicate minimum freeboard, in other words, a loading mark to which the vessel could be loaded. Vessels six metres or less must meet flotation and swamping requirements and will be required to have a capacity plate to indicate the maximum load the vessel can carry.
I would add that during consultations, the fishing industry has indicated it feels the cost of implementing these proposals may put fishers out of business. In general, it believes that the proposed stability requirements are not warranted and that education would be more effective in terms of reducing incidents.
From a current status perspective, in order to address the industry's concerns, Transport Canada has undertaken to research and develop a statistical analysis of fishing vessel risk factors and relate these to the proposed requirements. Using this information, a cost-benefit analysis will also be undertaken.
Our overarching principle is to apply stability requirements where there are identified risks. This principle is in fact being used today as per the ship safety bulletin that I mentioned earlier. The proposed regulations will be reviewed and amended based on the results of the analyses, and we expect to pre-publish these new regulations in the Canada Gazette Part I late in 2007, with a view to bringing them into force some time in 2008. We continue to consult and support education and training programs for the industry as well.
In summary, the Transportation Safety Board has identified stability as a contributing factor in fishing vessel incidents, and capsizing and founderings are among the most frequent causes of fatalities. Stability requirements are in place for fishing vessels over 150 gross tons and for those between 15 and 115 gross tons, based on risk factors.
The new proposed fishing vessel safety regulations under development are, as I mentioned, forecast to be pre-published in late 2007 and will cover some sort of stability requirements for all fishing vessels. We continue to support the education aspect, and I'd like to point out that safety is a shared responsibility and all vessels are safer when operated correctly and the stability characteristics are understood and are used for their designed purpose.
Mr. Chairman, that concludes my brief overview on what exists and what we're planning with respect to fishing vessel safety.