I do quite a bit of indexing of certificates for Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, also a fishing village.
Deaths at sea are normally recorded at the first Port the vessels docks at after the incident, which may not always be the home Port.
From what I've noticed, deaths on fishing vessels from home ports, the family are normally the informants and details are known. For others this obviously depends on the informant and have seen examples of only the name given, no age and unknown parents.
Another example of three deaths recorded at the same time: Peterhead (232) 1877 Deaths Page 86.
No.106, Malcolm Campbell, 1868 August Twenty Fifth at Sea off Buchanness Parish of Peterhead, male, age 22 years, parents not given, cause: Drowning Body not recovered.
No.107, no name given, 1868 (found) September Twentieth at Sandford Bay Parish of Peterhead, male, age ?, parents blank, cause: Unknown
No.108, no name given, 1875 (found) December Third On sea beach opposite Love Lane Peterhead, male, age ?, parents: blank, cause: Drowning - supposed to have been lost in some shipwreck.
Therefore you really need to look for any mention of a fishing accident in the local newspaper to narrow down any date for a possible search and even then example No.107 & 108 show that you may have no way of proving it is your relative.
