Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2007, published 97th ILC session (2008)

Fishermen's Articles of Agreement Convention, 1959 (No. 114) - Guernsey

The Committee notes that, according to the Government’s report, there have been no changes affecting the application of the Convention in either law or practice. The Committee understands, however, that a consolidated Merchant Shipping Act was adopted in 1995, section 109 of which refers to the engagement and discharge of crews of fishing vessels and provides for regulations relating to crew agreements. It also understands that the Merchant Shipping (Crew Agreements, Lists of Crew and Discharge of Seamen) (Fishing Vessels) Regulations, 1972, which had been issued under the Merchant Shipping Act of 1970, continue to apply. The Committee requests the Government to clarify whether the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 – especially those of Part V on fishing vessels – have been extended to Guernsey, as provided for in section 315(2) of the Act and, if so, to transmit a copy of the relevant Order in Council.

The Committee also notes that since the ratification of the Convention, no general information has ever been made available regarding its application in practice. The Committee would therefore be grateful if the Government would provide in its next report, in accordance with Part V of the report form, up to date information on the practical application of the Convention including, for instance, statistics concerning the overall number of fishers to whom the Convention applies, the average number of fishers signed on per year, extracts from reports of the labour inspection services showing the number and nature of any contraventions reported, a copy of the standard form of crew agreement currently in use, as well as copies of any collective agreements in force regulating matters dealt with in the Convention.

The Committee also draws the Government’s attention to the new Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 (No. 188), which was adopted by the International Labour Conference at its 96th Session (June 2007) and revises and updates most ILO instruments on fishing, including Convention No. 114. The Committee requests the Government to pay all due attention to this new global instrument on the working and living conditions of fishers and to keep the Office informed of any decision which it might take with a view to its ratification.