A report from the British Marine Accident Investigation Branch calls for action to reduce fishing accidents at sea.
This follows investigations into three separate incidents over a two-week period last year in Scottish waters each involving a fatality.
In the first incident, the UK-registered stern trawler 'Osprey III' was returning to Macduff, Scotland after a day's fishing. When lowering a damaged net back to the deck following repair, a bight of the net entered the water. This caused the portion of the net flaked on the deck to run over the stern and into the water. William Antonio, a Filipino deckhand, became entangled in the net and its ground gear, and was dragged overboard.
A week later, Raymond Davidson, a crewman on the creel fishing vessel 'Optik, entangled his foot in a rope and was dragged overboard and down to the seabed by the weight of attached fishing gear while shooting creels. He later died in hospital.
Another fisherman fell overboard while the vessel was preparing to shoot the port-side scalloping gear in rough weather. He was recovered, but pronounced dead two hours later having suffered non-survivable injuries, most likely as a result of being crushed between the towing beam and the vessel's hull.
"The government will now carefully consider the report's findings as it develops its maritime policy, and will respond fully in due course," a UK Department of Transport representative told the BBC.
