Prevent or treat occupational noise exposure in artisanal fishers? Decision-making based on public expenditure

Abstract

Small-scale fisheries account for 40 % of the world's capture fisheries and employ approximately 90 % of the people in the fishing sector. The effects of noise exposure on occupational health have been studied extensively. Studies have been conducted in fisheries in various parts of the world showing hazardous noise levels in different fishing vessels; however, these studies were conducted in industrial fisheries, leaving artisanal fisheries with knowledge gaps. This work focused on artisanal fishers is the first to (a) determine their perception of noise exposure, (b) quantitatively assess their exposure to noise in small vessels, and (c) determine the economic benefits of implementing preventive measures versus the treatment scenario of noise-induced hearing loss in this target group. The results indicate that most of them work at risk of noise exposure and are unaware of it. All tasks and scenarios analysed exceed the maximum permissible noise exposure limits, mainly caused by boat engines. The economic analysis showed that the benefits (savings) of the preventive measures outweighed the expenses (costs) of medical treatment for potential artisanal fishers with hearing loss. The investment spent on preventive measures recovered after 8.65 years. Other benefits correspond to the decongestion of the public healthcare network and reduction in public expenditure. Finally, our study provides quantitative information that fills gaps in the information available to decision-makers when defining public policies.