HALIFAX — A report prepared for the federal Fisheries Department into the capsizing of L'Acadien II is calling for a full review of the coast guard's procedures for towing small vessels.

Four sealers from Quebec's Iles de la Madeleine died after their vessel overturned while being towed through ice off Cape Breton early in the morning on March 29.

Retired Rear Admiral Roger Girouard, who was hired to conduct the inquiry, looked into the events leading up to the accident and whether the crew of the coast guard vessel Sir William Alexander followed coast guard policies.

His report released Monday concludes the coast guard was following set procedures by leaving the six sealers on board and conducting the tow.

However, the 102-page report recommends a policy on towing should state that only the "absolute minimum" of crew should stay on board while under tow.

The study also suggests the coast guard look at quick release mechanisms so tow ropes can be cut quickly.

It says the crew on the coast guard icebreaker could have done more than read a liability waiver to the six fishermen on the stricken sealing boat about the dangers of being towed.

The report says there should have been "a more fulsome discussion of the actual risks of the tow."

The Fisheries Department report is the second one to be released in less than a week on the accident.

In a separate report released last Wednesday, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said the clutch on the sealing boat that was likely engaged when it sank, causing it to fatally veer sharply off course and into the path of a large ice pack.

Officials with the TSB said L'Acadien II either intentionally or accidentally accelerated at two critical points while they were being towed through thick ice by the coast guard ship.

Pierre Murray, regional manager of investigations for the board, said the 12-metre fishing boat first engaged the clutch when it drifted into relatively open water.

Because the boat had a broken rudder, he said the acceleration likely caused it to swerve dramatically to the icebreaker's port side and headlong into the ice floe's path.

The board said it based its findings on simulations it did on the accident in ice-free waters last summer, something critics said discredited the investigation. The trials showed the clutch on L'Acadien II was likely engaged in a forward position with the engine running as it veered off the centreline behind the coast guard icebreaker.

The board recommended that the Fisheries Department develop safe towing practices for fishing vessels operating in ice.

The coast guard now relies on towing guidelines in a seamanship manual, which state crew should monitor the tow, maintain regular communications, remove crew from the vessel when necessary and get crew to don personal flotation devices.

Marc-Andre Deraspe, Bruno Bourque, Gilles Leblanc and Carl Aucoin died in the accident.

Water rushed into their boat when it went capsized while three sealers -- including the captain -- slept in their bunks below. Their bodies were later recovered from the vessel, while Aucoin's body was never found.

The TSB said two lookouts were posted on the quarterdeck of the coast guard ship and were supplied with portable radios to maintain direct communication with the bridge.

They were also there to sever the tow line in the event of an emergency, but the TSB says they weren't able to sever the line quickly enough when the order was given.