Fatal Cornish trawler accident blamed on critical safety failures

June 19, 2025 International

An investigation into the death of a deckhand aboard a beam trawler from Cornwall has revealed a chain of critical safety failures. The fatal accident happened on February 6, 2021, when the crew member was struck and killed by a falling trawl beam on the PZ 512 Cornishman trawler, based in Newlyn, Penzance, 44 nautical miles south-southwest of the Isles of Scilly. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch report details how the vessel’s port trawl beam, which had been hoisted to allow the crew to repair the fishing gear, fell suddenly. The beam trawler Cornishman (Image: Devon and Cornwall Police) The immediate cause was the failure of a chain link that was part of the beam’s quick-release mechanism. Links, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:42

aboard a beam trawler, Cornwall, critical safety failures, death of a deckhand, fatal accident, Marine Accident Investigation Branch, second deckhand also struck, Trawler PZ 512 Cornishman, UK

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The New England groundfish debacle (Part III): who or what is at fault? Nils E. Stolpe/FishNet

It took me a while to decide how to most accurately describe the situation that has been visited upon the New England fishing communities that are and since colonial times have been dependent on the groundfish fisheries.

NILS STOLPE: The New England groundfish debacle (Part IV): Is cutting back harvest really the answer?

While it’s a fact that’s hardly ever acknowledged, the assumption in fisheries management is that if the population of a stock of fish isn’t at some arbitrary level, it’s because of too much fishing. Hence the term “overfished.” Hence the mandated knee jerk reaction of the fisheries managers to not enough fish; cut back on fishing. What of other factors? They don’t count. It’s all about fishing, because fishing is all that the managers can control; it’s their Maslow’s Hammer. When it comes to the oceans it seems as if it’s about all that the industry connected mega-foundations that support the anti-fishing ENGOs with hundreds of millions of dollars a year in “donations” are interested in controlling. Read the article here

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