The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reported results of its first year of enforced rules to decrease the use of medically important antibiotics in US agriculture. In 2012 in the USA, over 70% percent by weight of antibiotics that are medically important for humans were used in food-producing animals and 30% used to treat humans. Reduction of agricultural antibiotic use is a key One Health intervention against antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which moves fluidly and internationally between pathogens, humans, animals and the environment, causing drug-resistant infections.

Fishing industry workers are at high risk for work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and injuries. Prescription opioids used to treat pain injuries may put these workers at increased risk for developing substance disorders. Using a Community-Based Participatory Research approach, formative research was conducted to inform the eventual development of relevant interventions to prevent and reduce opioid use disorders among fishing industry workers. Qualitative interviews (n = 21) were conducted to assess: knowledge and attitudes about opioid use disorders; features of fishing work that might affect use and/or access to treatment; and community and organizational capacity for prevention and treatment. Participants reported numerous pathways connecting commercial fishing with opioid use. The combination of high stress and physically tasking job duties requires comprehensive workplace interventions to prevent chronic pain and MSDs, in addition to tailored and culturally responsive treatment options to address opioid use disorders in this population. Public health programs must integrate workplace health and safety protection along with evidence-based primary, secondary, and tertiary interventions in order to address opioid use disorders, particularly among workers in strenuous jobs.