What exactly is, a share-fisherman?

 

Share-fishermen are paid a 'share' of the catch after the expenses for the trip are taken off.

Most fishing boats either land their fish to an auction or direct to a fish company with whom they have a contract. Prawn boats and crabbers generally land to one of more companies, often agreeing a price while they are still catching at sea.

In the case of a fish auction the vessel's agent produces a 'settling sheet'. This details any expenses for the trip along with a detailed list of all the fish sold along with the price per kilo, the total for each and a 'grossing for the entire catch.

Deductions from the 'grossing include: ice, food for the trip any hire or rental charges for electronics, insurances and anything else that has been agreed between the skipper/owner and crew. The biggest expense by far to take off the grossing is of course fuel. Today's high prices mean that a large beam trawler may burn anything up to £3,000 worth of fuel per day.

What is left is the shared amongst the crew - hence the term, 'share-fisherman'. Years ago, many boats would share this fifty-fifty. So, if there were five crew there would be ten shares - five for the boat, five, one share each for the crew. These days boats over 15m often use a percentage share to differentiate between roles with the skipper, relief skipper and engineer getting larger shares.

Despite share-fishermen having a unique National Insurance stamp and unlike almost any other form of employment, neither the skipper of the vessel nor the crew are bound by contract - the skipper can hire and fire without any reason and the crew can leave the boat at any time.

Share-fisherman enjoy only three employment 'rights' - 

1. they are entitled to see the settling sheet
2. they have to be re-patriated to their home port if need
3. they expect to be fed while at sea

Editors note: The second boat I sailed on was a longliner from Newlyn - we (six hands) were expected to shop for our own food for the trip and cook it at the end of each day at sea.)

The issue of fishermen being excluded from the Industrial Injuries Benefit Scheme is being raised.

The above scheme only covers the employed and there is no eligibility whatsoever for self employed people, and in particular "share fishermen". It covers accidents and injury at work and also on employment training courses. It appears therefore that any of the training courses that are being proposed for share fishermen will be ineligible also due to the criteria.

“A share fisherman” is someone who:

• Is not employed under a contract of service.

• Works in the fishing industry

• Is master or crew member of a British fishing boat manned by more than one person; or

• Used to work on a British fishing boat but is now too old or infirm and is working ashore in Great Britain making and mending gear or doing any other work for a British fishing boat”. [National Insurance Manual NIM 20900 special cases share fisherman].

A share fisherman (could be a woman), is self-employed. 

He shares the efforts independently with others on a joint venture “each party making a specific and separate contribution to the success or otherwise of the fishing expedition but coming together at the end to share the triumphs and tribulations of their joint venture” 

This is in contrast to say a “mariner” who is defined as:

a person is defined as a “mariner” if they have been employed under a contract of service as:

• A master, member of the crew or radio officer of any ship or vessel, or
• In any other capacity (commonly referred to as a super numeri on board a ship or vessel where the;
• Employment in that other capacity is for the purpose of that ship or vessel or her crew or any passenger or cargo or mails carried by the ship or vessel, and
• The contract is entered into in the United Kingdom with a view to its performance (in whole or in part) while the ship or vessel is on her voyage”. [NIM 2908 Special Cases Class 1 Mariners].
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The nature of fishing is that there is a great deal of work with the hands in cold water, cold and wet weather conditions, gear mending, engine work, routine maintenance, welding, painting, grinding off rust, emergency mending of nets and trawls at sea on a rolling deck in extreme conditions (sometimes at night) - which all take a toll on the body. If an injury was sustained by, for example, a boat yard worker in dry dock, working on one of our fishing vessels, riveting metal sheet work, he would be covered by the Industrial Injuries Disablement benefit. A fishermen, as a share fishermen, or an individual fishermen (not on a share scheme) but self employed, would not.

The government have accepted the share fishermen unique tax scheme and have gone through policy reinforcing it as a very unique status that is only for the fishing industry. I do not accept therefore that it would open the floodgates to the self employed generally, to add this unique tax status and unique class of self employed people, being included within the Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit scheme.

Most fishermen, after three or four decades at sea will suffer hand injuries to the extent that the circulation is suffering with trauma to hands from the cold and wet weather, leg injuries from working on a rolling deck, back problems and often noise induced deafness from the loudness of the old engines. Some have lung difficulties from the engine fumes, sight problems from the glare of the water, skin cancer from working on an open deck and so it goes on. 

Fishing is an industrial type of occupation and it is wrong that conditions flowing from working in an industrial setting at sea, by share fishermen, should be excluded from a claim from the Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit scheme due to the unique self employed share fishermen status, and the fact that they are not employees. Many of the fishermen that I have spoken to with injuries have been with the same boat, or same boat owner, for over 20 years

Whilst you might say why do the fishermen not just claim under the Personal Independence Payment, many of them see the injuries that they have sustained as occupational injuries. They would claim this as an occupational compensation. The Industrial Injuries Benefit is seem by many as more of an entitlement arising from work, rather than a routine benefit. Fishermen are notoriously proud and do not "sign on" even during times of long bad weather, often because they continue to work unpaid, mending gear. Fishing is very much a life choice and an industrial type of work that places barriers to some benefits through the unique tax status, such as this one.

Through the LawWorks Law NUTFA scheme we are now taking specific advice on the discriminatory nature of the exclusion of the class that fishermen have been placed into by the share fishermen scheme as to whether it would fall within Article 14 of the Human Rights Act, particularly as it is the UK government that have been keen to reinforce the share fishermen status for decades as to tax implications. This is as regards the exclusion from the Industrial Injuries Benefit Scheme or the creation of an alternative scheme purely for share fishermen, who are clearly working in an industrial type of environment day after day. It cannot be argued that fishing is not an industrial setting.

Whilst through NUTFA we have had a large level of fishermen reach out to us with industrial injuries through work, many now retired, we are starting a call for evidence as to numbers and hope to have the bare bones of the data as to the amount and extent by the time that we meet in January.