Off Soundings - Fishing Vessel Safety Updated: 30 June, 2010

“Its no fish you are buying, it’s men’s lives.” The Antiquary (1816) ch. 11, Sir Walter Scott (1771 - 1832)

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New! COOK STOVE SAFETY Or… “Why does my raingear smell like smoke?”

By Tim Clepper the US Coast Guard Commercial Fishing Vessel Examiner for Southern Southeast Alaska

New! Coast Guard releases reports on death of Bay Area fisherman in collision between cargo ship and fishing boat off Pt. Reyes in July, 2007

New! Analysis of Fishing Vessel Casualties
A Review of Lost Fishing Vessels and Crew
Fatalities, 1992 - 2007
(Published Oct. 2008)

Commercial Fishing Industry Vessels
ALERT! Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
[Docket No. USCG–2003–16158]

U.S. COAST GUARD HOMEPORT

FishSafe.info to learn about the program, or find an examiner. Or, call one of the Fishing Vessel Safety Coordinators below:

1st DISTRICT / Boston MA (617) 223-8440
5th DISTRICT / Portsmouth VA (757) 398-6554
7th DISTRICT / Miami FL (305) 415-6868
8th DISTRICT / New Orleans LA (504) 671-2154
9th DISTRICT / Cleveland OH (216) 902-6343
11th DISTRICT / Alameda CA (510) 437-5931
13th DISTRICT / Seattle WA (206) 220-7226
14th DISTRICT / Honolulu HI (808) 541-2118
17th DISTRICT / Juneau AK (907) 463-2810


FISHERY MANAGEMENT

GAO REPORT ON IFQs Dec 2002
Better Information Could Improve Program Management

GAO REPORT ON IFQ's Testimony Feb. 2004 Economic Effects on Processors and Methods Available to Protect Communities

GAO REPORT ON IFQs Feb. 2004
Methods for Community Protection and New Entry Require Periodic Evaluation, February

GAO REPORT ON IFQs Mar 2005
Management Costs Varied and Were Not Recovered as Required

GAO REPORT ON FISHERIES MANAGEMENT Feb. 2006
Core Principles and a Strategic Approach Would Enhance Stakeholder Participation in Developing Quote-Based Programs


Data / Information / Risk

"Our lives teem with numbers, but we sometimes forget that numbers are only tools. They have no soul; they may indeed become fetishes. Many of our most critical decisions are made by computers, contraptions that devour numbers like voracious monsters and insist on being nourished with ever-greater quantities of digits to crunch, digest, and spew back." [p. 7]

"The odds — the probability of winning — are all you need to know for betting in a game of chance, but you need far more information to predict who will win and who will lose when the outcome depends on skill as well as luck. There are cardplayers and racetrack bettors who are genuine professionals, but no one makes a successful profession out of shooting craps." [p.14]

Against the Gods -- The Remarkable Story of Risk
Peter L. Bernstein
John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1996


Ben-Yami on safety in fishing
Menakhem on Safety in small-scale fisheries

HEADS UP!
News Connecting the West Coast Fishing Community. A collaborative project of Oregon Sea Grant with info on: Industry, Safety, Family, seafood, Weather. Great resource!

 

 

OTHER USEFUL SITES

Testimony on Fishing Vessel Safety / rch
before Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Navigation
August 2, 1983

Statement for the Record / rch
for the hearing above, August 2, 1983

Compete IFISH I Proceedings—2000

NIOSH Safety and Health: Commercial Fishing Safety (links to all IFISH conferences)

IFISH 2009 Reykjavik, Iceland

Fishing Vessel Safety in the United States
The Tragedy of Missed Opportunities

by Richard C. Hiscock
A brief history of Fishing Vessel Safety in the U.S.

Presented at IFISH I, Woods Hole, MA, October 2000

Toward Improving the Impact of C&V Surveys on the Safety of Crews of U.S. Commercial Fishing Vessels
by Timothy R. McHugh, Esq. & Richard C. Hiscock, 2000

US Fisheries, too many casualties
by Menakhem Ben-Yami

SAFETY & HEALTH IN THE FISHING INDUSTRY
ILO meeting on Safety & Health,Geneva, Dec. 1999

Triangle of Safety
by Tim Clepper, USCG FV Examiner SE Alaska

Despite law, fishermen face deadliest job risks
USA Today—G. Stoller 03/12/2003

Dangers of the Deep
By Alex Markels
U.S. News & World Report
May 23, 2005

Deadliest catch? It's off Oregon's coast
by Michele Longo Eder
The Oregonian

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Salt in Our Blood: The Memoir of a Fisherman's Wife
In 2000, Michele Longo Eder began a journal to record what daily life was like for her while her husband and sons were out commercial fishing off the coasts of Oregon, Washington, and northern California. But personal tragedy struck just before Christmas 2001. This book is an offer of healing to her family, her community, and to fishing families everywhere.

The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger is not only a harrowing tail, but a wonderful history of the New England fishery. I highly recommend the book. As far as the movie goes, "Any resemblance to the book is purely coincidental."

Could your pump handle it? flooding that is. Article from Commercial Fisheries News, Nov. 1982.


FISHING VESSEL CASUALTY REPORTS

Fishing Vessel Casualty Task Force Report - 1999

ADRIATIC | BETH DEE BOB

CAPE FEAR

REVIEW OF FISHING VESSEL CASUALTIES
1994-2004

ALTAIR & AMERICUS | ALEUTIAN ENTERPRISE

ANDREA GAIL | GALAXY

LINDA E | LINDA E | LINDA E | LINDA E

LADY OF GRACE | TWO FRIENDS

LADY LUCK

ALASKA RANGER (NTSB)

ALASKA RANGER (USCG) yet to be released

Kalee Thompson's recently released book on the ALASKA RANGER Deadliest Sea - The Untold Story Behind the Greatest Rescue in Coast Guard History

 

FROM THE 1950s

GUDRUN Jan 1951 ( loss of 15)

PAOLINA 1952


F/V ARCTIC ROSE

MARINE BOARD REPORT

Observations on Recommendation One / rch

Seattle Times Article | Seattle Times Editorial

Seattle P-I Article | Seattle P-I Editorial

Coast Guard ‘wimped out’ with safety plan, …
USAToday, Gary Stoller 01-14-2004

Alaska Fisherman’s Journal - April 2004

AN OPEN DOOR TO TRAGEDY
THE UNANSWERED QUESTION
TEN TONS OF MISUNDERSTANDING

STABILITY CHART

CASE CLOSED? (Editorial)