After a North Lake lobsterman died this summer, Green MP Peter Bevan-Baker is pushing for more to be done to compensate injured workers in PEI’s fishing industry.

“The nature of the work is such that it is an inherently very, very dangerous situation,” he said Thursday. “I think there’s a limit to what can be done. I think we absolutely should do everything we can to make sure conditions on board ships are as safe as possible.”

But when safety procedures don’t prevent injuries or deaths, fishing workers don’t have the same access to compensation as employees in other sectors, he said. This is because paying premiums to the Workers’ Compensation Board (WBC) insurance system is optional for fishing industry employers.

Bevan-Baker is calling on the provincial government to change that and make the coverage mandatory.

In June, a man working on a North Shore lobster boat died after being struck by a hydraulic boom used to lift traps. The Workers’ Compensation Board investigated the accident and recommended new guidelines for ships’ equipment.

Bevan-Baker said Thursday that the brother of the man who died discovered he did not have insurance coverage from WCB, so the family will not receive compensation for what happened.

“They’re dealing with that horrible circumstance and they’re also dealing with an economic situation where anyone else who died on the job would receive a lump sum payment through WCB,” he said.

‘Important conversations’

The Workers’ Compensation Law covers 98 percent of PEI workers, said Dominique Chouinard, senior communications officer for the board.

“Fishing is the only major industry excluded from this coverage,” he said in an email to CBC News. “For fishing to be included in the mandatory coverage of the WCB, amendments to the WC Law Regulations would be required.”

Chouinard said people in the fishing industry can choose to purchase personal coverage, which is available to employers and independent operators in PEI and would provide compensation benefits and services if they are injured while working, as well as survivor benefits in the event of death.

Jenn Redmond, P.E.I.’s minister of workforce, advanced learning and population, said that although WCB coverage is optional for the fishing industry, her department will continue to educate employers about its importance.

“We have started and will continue to have those important conversations between fishing industry employers and the workers who do the work every time they are on the boat,” he said.