The degree of risk depends in part on the decisions fishermen make on the dangers they incur, including

the conditions they fish in, the vessels they use, the rest they get, and the safety equipment they carry.
Fishers' decisions and trade-offs may be impacted by how fisheries are managed, which may have an
impact on the safety of the fishery.

The majority of fishing safety studies and regulations have concentrated on reducing the direct causes of
fishing safety issues. The influence of fisheries management policies is one such indirect contributing
factor that must be understood and addressed if fishing safety is to be addressed more effectively.

Direct contributing factors refers to factors that are present or occur immediately prior to, during or
following a safety incident or event (fishing fatality, injury or vessel casualty) without which the incident
would not have occurred or would have had lesser consequences (Haddon, 1968). For fishing incidents,
direct factors may be associated with the captain and crew (human factors), the vessel and machinery
(equipment factors), location and weather conditions (environmental factors) or other direct factors.

To date, there has been no comprehensive and comparative analysis of the impacts of various fisheries
management measures on safety outcomes. This represents a significant research gap with important
policy implications. (Windle et al., 2006).

Fishing safety is a complex problem. The significance and persistence of safety problems in fisheries
around the world suggests that there are no easy or obvious solutions. Fisheries management is not the
only or most important factor affecting fishing safety. However, the case studies reviewed add to the
wide range of evidence that fisheries management can affect fishing safety in a variety of ways. It is
important to understand what these effects are, and to consider the ways in which fisheries
management policies, while continuing to meet fishery management goals, may also be used to make
fishing safer.