The Fifth Time: What the Death of the Skipper on Nista Tells the Creel Fishing Industry About Lone-Operated Fishing and Back Rope Entanglement

Isle of Luing, Scotland — 13 December 2023

The skipper, 58, had fished these waters his whole career and was known locally for encouraging others to wear their PFDs. Shooting a fleet of creels alone at around 6 knots, he became entangled in the back rope — most likely while clearing a jammed creel at the shooting gate, a task normally done by stepping over the taut rope on an 8-metre working deck. He was pulled through the gate and into the sea. The weight of the deployed creels held him under; the drag of the water stripped his inflated PFD off over his head. With no reboarding ladder and an EPIRB that had expired, he had no way to raise an alarm or get back aboard. The vessel motored on unmanned for nearly three hours before grounding on a shoal.

A Failure That Had Already Killed Four Others

Nista was the fifth near-identical UK lone-creel fatality since 2019: Sea Mist (2019), Saint Peter (2021), Harriet J (2021), and Goodway (2021) all involved solo skippers overcome by the same back rope entanglement mechanism. Each investigation produced recommendations for the Fishing Industry Safety Group to improve guidance for single-handed fishermen. A working group was established after the third death. Its proposals had not been implemented when the skipper died in the fifth.

Recommended Actions

1. MCA Fishermen's Safety Guide already states single-handed operation is not recommended due to the level of risk — this should be treated as a hard operating constraint, not general advice
2. Fit a reboarding ladder and keep a knife within reach of the shooting gate specifically, not just at the baiting station
3. Check and fasten PFD crotch straps before every trip — inflation alone does not prevent the device being stripped off during gear entanglement
4. Confirm EPIRB in-date status before every trip; a written risk assessment has been mandatory on vessels this size since September 2021

Human Element Analysis