The death of a fisherman who drowned in the Highlands could have been avoided if he had been wearing a life jacket, an inquiry has concluded.

Gary Forbes was pulled into the water off the Summer Isles after his leg became tangled in a rope attached to creels being dropped from the back of the Barnacle III in May 2014.

Skipper Roderick Grant retrieved him from the water and performed CPR but Mr Forbes could not be saved.

Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood, who led a fatal accident inquiry into the drowning, concluded: "Mr Forbes died as a result of an accident in which he entered the sea from the stern of the fishing boat Barnacle III.

"The cause of the accident was probably Mr Forbes' right leg becoming caught in an end buoy rope then paying out from the stern of said fishing boat.

"The accident happened shortly after he had walked an end weight towards the stern of said fishing boat.

"Mr Forbes' death may have been avoided if he had taken the reasonable precaution of wearing a life jacket [and] by the reasonable precaution of storing the rope in which he became caught in a bucket whilst it was on deck."