The study aims to collect narratives of family members who either lost husbands, brothers or uncles at sea. I became interested in the subject when I interviewed a fisherman who told me and my colleagues during the interview about his near-death experience when the company boat overturned. They saw their lives flashing in front of them. At the time of the interview, we did not probe him to speak more about that experience but asked him if he received trauma counselling, to which the answer was no. This raised more questions on the mental health of fishermen and the affected families when tragedy at sea strikes and they lose their loved ones. How do they deal with trauma? Whose responsibility is it to provide trauma counselling to fisherman and their families if the person who succumbed to the mighty waves is a small-scale fisher? Speaking to a young man living in the West Coast fishing community about the issue, he responded, “No counselling for fisherman; tomorrow is just another day, and life goes on, so sad (community member and activist)”. In a 2018 report on Rescues, Responding to Emergencies at Sea, a Rhode Island community guide, the author notes that working at sea is a dangerous job, and care must be taken on how you deal with affected communities and families (Cox, 2018). In the report, the author argues for greater care concerning outrage programs for fishermen, stating, “even in cases where there is no loss of life, the fishermen who had to be rescued probably need counselling” (Cox, 2018:41). Considering the history of South Africa, the challenges in mental health cases at public level (Burns, 2011; Petersen and Lund 2011; Petersen et al, 2011; Lund and Fisher, 2009). What lessons can be learnt to combat and assist fishing communities?