The tragic death of a local fisherman, who fell overboard and drowned while shell fishing, should serve as a warning to others to wear lifejackets, an inquest in Milford Haven heard last week.

Forty-two-year-old Andrew David Jenkins, of 1 Tyssul Court, Park Road, Tenby, was hauling in lines of shellfish pots on his 35ft boat the Calon Môr when the tragedy occurred.

He and deck-hand Mark Morrison set off from Milford Haven docks early on the morning of Saturday, March 2, with Mr. Morrison describing the weather as cold, but not rough.

The pair reached the location between Skokholm Island and St. Anne's Head where they had previously laid lines of 30 to 50 pots for collecting. While Mr. Jenkins was hauling in the pots, he discovered that a line had crossed another and had become tangled.

"This was not unusual and something Andrew, as an experienced fisherman, dealt with day in day out; it was like second nature and part and parcel of the job," Mr. Morrison said at the inquest.

Mr. Jenkins asked his colleague to pass him a knife to cut the line, but while Mr. Morrison's back was turned, he heard his skipper call out: "Mike, Mike". By the time he looked round, Mr. Jenkins had been spun around and was hanging overboard.

"He was stretched out dangling off the boat; one of his hands was tight and appeared to be caught. By the time I reacted, he shouted that he was going to fall in the water," recalled Mr. Morrison.

Once in the water, Mr. Jenkins began to drift from the boat, while his deck-hand, who had no experience of controlling the vessel, tried to turn it towards him. He reached out to him twice with a 12ft pole, but struggled to try and pull him out of the water.

Although the boat was well equipped with safety gear, Mr. Jenkins was not wearing a life-jacket, as the weather conditions were not severe.

Realising that his friend was now unconscious, Mr. Morrsion used the radio to send out a mayday call. Another local shell fisherman, Mr. David Griffiths, who was out hauling nearby on his boat Alisha, heard the call and went to assist.

Both he and Mr. Morrison eventually managed to retrieve Mr. Jenkins from the sea and administered CPR, but could not feel a pulse.

The St. David's lifeboat arrived on the scene soon after, and Mr. Jenkins was airlifted to the A & E department at Withybush Hospital, Haverfordwest, by a rescue helicopter from RAF Chivenor. He was pronounced dead at 12.40 pm.

A post mortem revealed that Mr. Jenkins had taken in a lot of water and moisture in his lungs and stomach and died of salt water drowning.

Speaking at the inquest, HM Coastguard sector manager for South Pembs., Dave Miller, said that he had inspected the vessel after the accident and found the level of safety equipment on board to have more than met the required standard.

"Mr. Jenkins was a very good, competent skipper and his boat was in very good order," stated Mr. Miller.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Pembrokeshire ccoroner Michael Howells said that fishing was probably the most hazardous occupation in the UK, with 30 lives lost at sea each year.

"Mr. Jenkins was a meticulous and very proud owner of his boat the Calon Môr. He was careful, efficient and ran his fishing business very well," said Mr. Howells.

"With the best will in the world, this incident shows that things do go wrong at sea, and that safety gear should be worn even in semi calm weather conditions," he added, describing the accident as "unfortunate and unforseeable."

Speaking after the inquest, Coastguard Dave Miller said that if there was a positive message to take from the accident, he hoped that the tragedy would serve as a warning to others to wear safety jackets at all times when at sea.

"Fishermen should routinely wear life-jackets, as you never know when an emergency might come around, as this case was the result of an accident and not the weather conditions," he commented.