Inside the world’s most dangerous industry

In Bangladesh, over 1,350 fishermen die at sea annually. These avoidable deaths are primarily attributable to unsafe practice and ill-equipped boats (which are often without the most basic safety features). What's more, when a fisherman dies, their family does not only lose a father, a husband, a son, but often their only source of financial income.

In response, The FISH Safety Foundation, an international non-profit organisation, dedicated to improving health & safety outcomes in global fishing, have developed a safety intervention programme.

The initiative, fishSAFE 2025, was supported by Lloyd’s Register Foundation funding and has produced a rigorous communications and training program to inform fishermen around critical equipment failures, legalities, methods of good seamanship and ways to mitigate risks.

A sibling initiative, the Re-Fish Campaign, is now working to tackle resource shortages; supplying fishermen with lifejackets, first-aid supplies and communication devices.

‘Fish Safe’ – one of ten works featured in ‘SAFE: A collection of works exploring a safer world’ – is inspired by the plight of Bangladeshi fishermen, and the creative ways vital safety information is communicated to those at risk.

In the exhibit, fishSAFE 2025’s educational posters are accompanied by raw footage, shared by fishermen in Bangladesh, lending contextual insight into their perilous daily reality aboard precarious fishing vessels.

‘SAFE: A collection of works exploring a safer world’ was an exhibition celebrating the 10 year anniversary of Lloyd’s Register Foundation that took place at Somerset House in 2022.

To explore ‘SAFE: A collection of works exploring a safer world’, visit our online exhibition.

To learn more about the FISH Safety Foundation and how they’re making the world a safer, more sustainable place, visit their website.