The NFFO has written to the Transport Minister, asking for an urgent meeting on medical assessments for fishermen.
30 March 2023
By November, all fishermen will be required to have a medical fitness certificate in order to continue to work at sea. This ill-considered, unnecessary and harmful regulation could prove devastating to the inshore fleet, with long-standing and well-managed medical conditions potentially leading to the refusal of a certificate. The cost, stress and lost sea time involved are unjustifiable.
Despite the NFFO meeting repeatedly with MCA officials and lobbying ministers to explain the seriousness of the situation, nothing has been done. This is now becoming desperate. Livelihoods will be lost and the looming mental health crisis in fishing communities will be worsened.
The government must act to undo the harm that their regulations are causing. The NFFO is calling on the minister responsible to meet with us, to discuss how this state of affairs will be resolved.