New and Emerging Research in Agricultural, Forestry, and Fishing Safety and Health - Agriculture Forestry and Fishing Research at NIOSH - page 171

from offshore Alaska fishing. Offshore fishing in the Northeast is facing extinction
due to depletion of the Gorges bank fishery, and these businesses tend to be non-
corporate. These other fishing regions lack a support structure, such as AMSEA
and NPFVOA, to provide training and outreach.
Another important source of risk in fishing is environmental degradation. As
fish become scarcer and as fisheries close, margins for fishermen grow tighter and
the cost of safety is weighed against the ability to operate the vessels. Overfishing
can lead to rapid changes in technologies, spatial shifts in fishing, new manage-
ment initiatives, and so forth that have the potential to impact fishing safety (Dolan
et al., 2005).
With the ever-increasing demand for seafood outpacing the natural supply,
there has been huge growth in aquaculture in the United States and around the
world. Resources need to be dedicated to investigating safety and health issues
emerging from aquaculture. Populations with little or no previous exposure to
aquaculture are joining the industry and learning as they go. What hazards exist
that they are unaware of? What challenges do they face in the exponential growth
of a new industry?
Emerging Forestry Issues
The fatality rate in forestry workers is unacceptably high. According to presen-
tations and public comments provided to the committee, some loggers are easily
acquiring and using antiquated tools to harvest trees. Some loggers do not have
formal training with logging equipment or electric tools, and many are unfamiliar
with safety practices. The problem is compounded by the aging of the logging
workforce, and older workers may face different and greater risks of injury and
death than younger ones.
The U.S. forestry industry is undergoing substantial change due to mechani-
zation, changing worksite labor organization, and increased use of contract labor
for specified tasks. The increased use of mechanization is a challenge because it
may increase some forms of worker exposure while decreasing others (Grevsten
and Sjorgren, 1996; Attebrant et al., 1997; Axelsson, 1998; Neitzel and Yost, 2002).
Resource degradation in forestry can limit the ability to use mechanical harvesters
or potentially increase their risk by pushing harvesting onto steep slopes, degraded
sites, or on other unstable terra firma. At the same time, mechanization may intro-
duce ergonomic issues that have yet to be encountered (Gellerstedt, 1997; Oliver
et al., 2000). Evolving workplace organization structures and the use of contract
labor could exacerbate exposures, given management's desire to complete tasks
quickly under environmental- and weather-related pressure and some workers'
preference to work long hours at piece work rates (International Labour Organiza-