Climate change: A pointer to increased small-scale fisher drowning deaths

supported by our stakeholder analysis, which also emphasizes the need to tailor the implemen- tation of these global recommendations to local circumstances. Education and training are identified across stakeholders. Because, globally, the highest drowning rates are among chil- dren, a WHO recommendation focuses on teaching school-age children swimming, water safety, and safe rescue skills [55]. Introduction of swimming, water safety, and first-aid lessons as part of school curricula, as recommended by the UN resolution on global drowning preven- tion [56] that particularly targeted fishing communities around Lake Victoria could reduce child drowning deaths in the short term and fisher drowning deaths in the long term as trained children become fishers; given that 89% of the deceased fishers had at least primary school education this may be a particularly promising strategy. Extension of such training programs to current fishers in small-scale fishery dependent communities around Lake Victoria, or to similar ones in low- and middle-income countries where fisher drowning death rates can exceed those of children [3] and large proportions of drowned fishers cannot swim (e.g., 34% of the incidents we reported), will also be a valuable opportunity to address drowning deaths. Strengthening of public awareness through strategic communications and enforcement of boating regulations [55] was also identified across the stakeholders. Strategic communications can include a combination of traditional and modern means (radio broadcasters, local

intermediaries, and via smartphones, peers) as relevant in different communities [21]. Enforcement must involve engagement across stakeholders to be effective (e.g., fishers report unsafe boat condition or insufficient life-saving equipment to BMUs; BMUs monitor safety regulations and intervene when they are not followed; authorities enforce regulation, including patrolling and inspection). Development of a national water safety plan [55, 56] was also iden- tified for boat crew and government stakeholders. Regional government (e.g., Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization, Lake Victoria Basin Com- mission) cooperation in tackling fisher drowning deaths, as recommended in the UN resolu- tion, could facilitate sharing of lessons learned and best practices [56]. Coordination of data collection across governments could also improve policy evaluation. Compared to other studies on drowning deaths in Lake Victoria fishing communities [3, 10], we specifically focused on small-scale fishers and weather-related risk factors. Our study is there- fore more sensitive to specific information about a climate-change vulnerable occupational group. Another key strength of our study is the careful comparison of descriptions of each drowning vic- tim and incident, enabling the removal of duplicated reports or reports that extended outside the timeframe of our study. We, however, may have missed some risk factors. Boat stability, for exam- ple, can be a factor that determines the outcome of fishers’ encounters with storms that we did

not collect information on. Note, however, that boats used by small-scale fishers in Lake Victoria are usually small [21] and thus unlikely to be stable in heavy storms. Furthermore, some of the behavioral information we collected can be sensitive (e.g., use of alcohol, drug, and non-use life jacket). Respondents may have not been willing to admit to the involvement of deceased loved ones in such a behavior, even if guaranteed anonymity. This sensitivity issue may explain the high percentage of missing data for use of alcohol, drug, and life jacket (21.3%, 25.5%, 15.6%, respec- tively), though these may also have been reasonably unknown by the respondent, especially if they were not fishing together. The discrepancy of observed and self-reported life jacket wear (0.7% and 31.9%, respectively) in fishing communities in Lake Albert, Uganda [50], reveals the potential sensitivity of the issue in fishing communities in East Africa. Conclusions As climate change alters our environment, it will also reshape the risks faced by the people most reliant on it. Occupational drowning among fishers represents a little examined issue PLOS ONE Climate change and small-scale fisher drowning deaths PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0302397 May 22, 2024 12 / 16