The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is raising concerns after 17 fishermen died on board fishing vessels during the first 10 months of 2018 — a massive spike compared to the three deaths in 2017.

The number of fatalities is an all-time high in the industry but Kathy Fox, the Chair of the TSB of Canada, told CTV’s Your Morning that a lot of the deaths were avoidable.

“If we look back, we get about nine or 10 commercial fishing fatalities every year and the issue is that we see the same recurring factors,” she said. “(They’re) related to fishing vessel stability, lack of life-saving appliances or unsafe operating practices.”

In 2017, there were only three deaths, and in 2016, there were eight deaths. The last time the number of deaths was this high was in 2004, when 17 died.

Fox can’t definitively explain the spike this year.

In light of the deaths, the TSB of Canada is urging harvesters to change their behaviour: by wearing flotation devices and immersion suits, having emergency signalling devices and better adhering to safe work practices.

“I think over the years, there’s been a certain tolerance of risk — no transportation mode is risk-free,” Fox said. “But we have seen some improvements in the safety culture in the fishing industry but it tends to be sporadic, slow and localized.”

Last week, the TSB of Canada released its annual watchlist which criticized the fishing industry’s safety record.

Fox is urging a wider adoption of safe operating practices, including not going out during bad weather if possible.

The board also recommends federal and provincial authorities need to do a better job working together. It also asked Transport Canada to issue user-friendly safety guidelines.

“These will increase the chances that they’ll (fishermen) will come home safely,” she said.

Fox said, within the fishing community, while the response to the recommendations has been mixed, some very good work is being done by regional and provincial fish harvesting associations.

“They’ve been providing training, encouraging things like wearing personal flotation devices, carrying immersion suits in cold water, carrying automatic listening devices and so on, which is good,” Fox said.

“So if they do end up in the water, they have a greater chance at surviving,” she said.

But there are still gaps, which is why Fox stressed a greater collaboration between the different levels of government.

The TSB chair said that the problem is, when fishermen go out on their vessels, they’re not expecting their boat to capsize so they’re not as cautious as they should be.

Transport Canada guidelines being followed will ensure that those fishermen stand the best chance at surviving when they’re loading their vessels. But some have expressed that wearing personal flotation devices (PFD) can be too uncomfortable or hot.