Fisher fell during a rescue mission on Sunday morning
A missing fisher has been picked up off the Nova Scotia coast on Monday.
The fisher was transported to hospital in Sydney. The fisher’s sister, Alana Lewis, has since confirmed that her brother, 35-year-old Jeremy Hart of Windsor Junction, N.S., had died.
The incident follows a rescue mission mishap that happened on Sunday, according to a report from The Canadian Press.
At around 5 a.m. on Saturday morning, the fishing vessel MuckTown Girl requested assistance due to engine problems when it was located 160 kilometres southeast of Canso, N.S., according to the Halifax joint rescue coordination centre.
An attempt by the coast guard vessel to tow the vessel to Mulgrave, N.S. failed on Saturday evening, according to the report, citing a tweet from the rescue coordination centre. However, the fishing boat took on water. By shortly after 6 a.m. on Sunday, the crew abandoned the boat and boarded a life-raft.
Four of the crew made the transfer from the life-raft to the coast guard vessel Jean Goodwill, but one fisher fell in the water, according to the rescue coordination centre. It did not specify what exactly happened, reported The Canadian Press.
All crew on the fishing vessel were wearing immersion suits.
In a tweet at about 2 p.m. on Sunday, the rescue coordination centre said that a Cormorant helicopter sent to look for the missing fisher had located the person and crew on board had transported the fisher to hospital.
Previously, one man died and one was injured after a scallop vessel capsized near Harbour Breton, N.L. Fishing has long been seen as one of Canada’s most dangerous occupations. Earlier, Labrador outfitting company Cloud 9 Salmon Lodge Inc. was fined $12,500 after one of its workers died when a boat overturned in a 2018 incident.
In January 2020, New Brunswick started looking at amending its Occupational Health and Safety Act so that fishing vessels would be considered a “place of employment.” Once fishing vessels are considered a place of employment, captains will be required to provide their crew with PFDs and lifejackets approved by Transport Canada, and it would be mandatory to wear these on fishing vessels.
There were also other workers involved in incidents who were found after the incident happened. In October 2021, the body of a firefighter with the Montreal fire department (SIM) was found after a 12-hour search.
