as extended to owier's of coramercial fishing vessels by the Jones 

 Act is unrealistic because it disregai'ds completely the financial., 

 economic, and operational characteristics of the industry. Further- 

 more, the system in itself is unjust because it is wasteful and slow 

 and it fosters misunderstaxiding and bitterness between employer and 

 employees. Moreover, it encourages the use of dishonest methods by 

 both parties because court awards often are not in proportion to the 

 employee's injury or need (Cf. Crystal Eastman, ■.-.'ork Accidents and 

 the Law as quoted by Albert H. Mowbray and Ralph H. Blanchard, 

 Insurance , It's Theory and Practice in the United States . New York: 

 McGraw-Iiill Book Company, Inc., i|-th ed., 1955, p. 152). Mthough 

 any new piece of legislation seems to be better than the present 

 system, the subject requires further study before any decision 

 can be made. 



E. SWIMARY Aim CONCLUGIOnS 



Economic conditions, the structure of the commercial fishing 

 industry, and existing maritime legislation have adversely affected 

 the insurability of vessels and contributed to the insurance problem 

 in a number of ways, as follows: 



1. The presence of conflicting interests among vessel o'smers 

 and their highly diversified backgrounds seriously hinders the 

 growth of group loyalty and cooperation. In the past, the 

 divergence of production eind market interests may have adversely 

 affected the insurability of commercial fishing vessels. 



2. The physical Inadequacies of most vessels and the lack of 

 knowledge of good seamanship among the majority of captains are not 

 a matter of operational cost alone but also a matter of function 

 and practice or custom. The obvious conflict between the vessel's 

 seaworthiness or the captain's seameinship and fishing operations is 

 aji aspect of the Insurance problem deserving serious consideration. 



3. Labor shortages, poor recriiiting practices, and high labor 

 turnover in some types of fishing are important factors not only in 

 the rise of the problem in hull insurance, but more particularly in 

 protection and Indemnity insurance . 



k. It was found that the incidence of insurance has increased 

 the hazard. There is a highly significant direct association 

 between the occurrence of Insurance and loss experience. High 

 propensity to Insure is associated with relatively unfavorable 

 loss experience and vice versa . 



Ill 



