One can broadly say that fishing boats engaged in the small-scale sector account for the bulk of marine fish landings in south Asia. Yet, this sizeable fleet of fishing vessels is ignored when it is a matter of compliance with safety standards, since such standards do not exist in the region for fishing vessels less than 24m in length. More often than not, fishing vessels are built by boat yards that: do not meet minimum standards of quality; do not pay heed to minimum safety requirements and; do not have the benefit of professional inputs in terms of design, construction and specification. While traditionally built boats have stood the test of time, the advent of motorization and newer boat-building materials like FRP have changed many variables of operation. Traditional fishers used to near shore operations are now fishing in distant waters requiring a new set of safety norms.

Fishery management interventions have generally been on conflict-resolution and resource management. Any interventions at improving safety at sea have been knee- jerk reactions consequent to a major natural disaster such as the December 2004 Asian Tsunami. The Fishing Technology Service (FIIT) at the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department, is developing various safety guidelines for small fishing vessels. One of the expected outputs of the global FAO project Safety at sea for small scale fisheries in developing countries, GCP/GLO/200/MUL, with activities in West Africa and South Asia, is to assist in the development of rules and regulations for the design, construction and equipment of fishing vessels in the small-scale fisheries sector, adapted and amended from the FAO/ILO/IMO Voluntary Guidelines for the Design, Construction and Equipment of Small Fishing Vessels, 2005; the draft FAO/ILO/IMO Safety recommendations for decked fishing vessels of less than 12 metres in length and undecked fishing vessels; relevant sections of Part A of the FAO/ILO/IMO Code of Safety for Fishermen and Fishing Vessels, 2005; and other international standards for fishing vessels of less than 24 metres in length.

A Safety Guide for Small Offshore Fishing Boats, BOBP/MAG/16 produced by the Bay of Bengal Programme in 1993 was very popular and received tremendous response not only from the Bay of Bengal region, but worldwide. Explaining safety standards using sketches and diagrams and presenting technical data in an easy-to-understand format was the key to its success. The present publication is an updated version of the 1993SafetyGuide takingintoaccountworkdoneinthisfieldinternationallyinthepast decade. We are sure that it is a very important step to emerging fishery management regimes that treat safety-at-sea as an integral part, in developing countries in general and south Asia in particular.