The direct and indirect effects of a global pandemic on US fishers and seafood workers

PeerJ

article

Easton R. White¹  Jill Levine³  Amanda Moeser⁵  Julie Sorensen⁶ 

[1] Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Hampshire;Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont;Department of Forestry, University of Vermont;Department of Biology, University of Vermont;Environmental Studies Department, Antioch University New England;Northeast Center for Occupational Health and Safety: Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing, Bassett Healthcare Network

关键词: COVID-19;    Seafood worker;    Fisheries;    Workplace safety;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.13007

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

The United States’ fishing and seafood industries experienced major shifts in consumer demand and social-distancing restrictions starting in March 2020, when the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic were unfolding. However, the specific effects on fishers and seafood processors are less well known. Fishermen and seafood workers are potentially at risk during a pandemic given existing tight working quarters, seasonal work, and long hours. To address these concerns, and given a lack of data on the sector, we reviewed news articles, scientific articles, and white papers to assess the various effects of COVID-19 on US seafood workers. Here, we show that most COVID-19 cases among seafood workers occurred during summer 2020 and during the beginning of 2021. These cases were documented across coastal areas, with Alaska experiencing the largest number of cases and outbreaks. Seafood workers were about twice as likely to contract COVID-19 as workers in other parts of the overall US food system. We also documented a number of indirect effects of the pandemic. New social-distancing restrictions and policies limited crew size, resulting in longer hours and more physical taxation. Because of changes in demand and the closure of some processing plants because of COVID-19 outbreaks, economic consequences of the pandemic were a primary concern for fishers and seafood workers, and safety measures allowed for seafood price variation and losses throughout the pandemic. We also highlight a number of inequities in COVID-19 responses within the seafood sector, both along racial and gender lines. All of these conditions point to the diverse direct and indirect effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on fishers and seafood workers. We hope this work sets the foundation for future work on the seafood sector in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic, improving the overall workplace, and collecting systematic social and economic data on workers.

【 授权许可】

CC BY