Saving Seafood

Safety

The human factor in fisheries, for better and worse

November 21, 2025 — Jerry Dzugan, founder of the Alaska Marine Safety Education Association (AMSEA), opened the Pacific Marine Expo’s conference sessions by dispelling the notion that 80 percent of commercial fishing fatalities are the result of what we refer to as the “human factor.”

“Human factors are really responsible for 100 percent of all incidents,” said Dzugan.

Whether it’s design, building, or operation, it’s hard to get away from the effect people have on fishery operations and safety.

But the human factor is also what keeps the industry thriving, and that’s never been more apparent as the industry continues down the road of managing the graying of the fleet.

Workforce development is a critical component across trades in general. However, the unique challenges in maritime trades continue to be introducing new candidates to the full spectrum of on-the-water jobs.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

Coast Guard seeks applicants for Commercial Fishing Safety Advisory Committee

July 8, 2025 — The U.S. Coast Guard is accepting applications to fill 18 vacancies on the National Commercial Fishing Safety Advisory Committee (NCFSAC), a federal advisory body that provides guidance on commercial fishing safety policy to the Department of Homeland Security.

Established under the Frank LoBiondo Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2018 and later amended by the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, the NCFSAC represents a cross-section of stakeholders in the commercial fishing industry. The committee advises on regulations, equipment standards, training, and safety measures impacting fishing vessels and crews nationwide.

The Coast Guard said it is seeking a diverse slate of candidates to fill seats representing the commercial fishing industry, naval architecture, marine engineering, safety training, insurance, vessel manufacturing, vessel ownership, and the general public. Three of the 18 positions are designated for members of the public with relevant maritime or community experience and will serve as Special Government Employees, subject to federal ethics and disclosure requirements.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

AMSEA sounds mayday as safety program faces shutdown

April 9, 2025 — AMSEA, the Alaska Marine Safety and Education Association, has issued a Mayday call of its own as new funding cuts and reorganization under the Trump administration threaten to end safety training credited with saving lives.

“Almost all our funding comes from NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health),” says AMSEA executive director, Leann Cyr, Ph.D. “And NIOSH has been effectively dissolved and most its employees fired, including Jennifer Lincoln. (A 2021 National FishermanHighliner).” Pointing out that the number of fishermen deaths has steadily declined since AMSEA began conducting safety training courses, Cyr contends that cutting the program will inevitably cost lives. “When AMSEA’s commercial fishing safety program began in 1985, 250 fishing vessels and 75 fishermen’s lives were lost each year,” she says in an AMSEA blog.“Forty years later, with hundreds to thousands trained annually by AMSEA in marine safety and survival, in collaboration with dedicated USCG efforts, fatalities have been lowered by over 80 percent. Vessels still experience many capsizes and vessel disasters; however, fishermen now survive these emergencies daily.

“It was a dark time in Alaska before this training,” says Cyr. “And we don’t want to go back there. Teaching people how to get into a survival suit in under 60 seconds, how to get into a life raft, make a MayDay call, and other emergency preparedness skills has obviously saved lives.”

When the crew of the groundfish trawler Three Girlsabandoned shipin August 2024,100 miles east of New Hampshire, they had recently been through a safety training that enabled them to get off in good order and be rescued promptly, saving the Coast Guard considerable time and money. “Right now, we have funding for our Alaska programs until July 1,” says Cyr. “And funding for national programs until September 1. After that, these trainings will go away.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

The gear fishermen can’t afford to leave behind

March 18, 2025 — A recent informal survey on FaceBook asked fishermen what gear they would never go offshore without. Many responded that they’d never leave port without a survival suit. “That’s smart,” says John Roberts, director of safety training at Fishing Partnership Support Services, a Massachusetts-based non-profit dedicated to improving the health, safety, and economic security of commercial fishermen. “A survival suit is probably the most important piece of safety gear you can have on the boat.”

After 30 years doing search and rescue for the U.S. Coast Guard, Roberts joined the Massachusetts-based Fishing Partnership two years ago and has been running safety trainings for fishermen around New England. “We teach them how to don and doff the suit, that is, get in and out of it, and how to get in the water,” says Roberts. “We encourage them to bring their own suits, and we go over how to store and maintain them,” Roberts notes that zippers should be waxed and lights in working order. “The reflective tape shouldn’t be peeling off. Sometimes a guy might have bought a suit and not used it, and we unpack it, and it’s got dry rot, or the zipper is rusted.”

The Coast Guard has a table—based on length, registration, and distance from shore—that indicates which vessels are required to carry survival suits for the crew, but Roberts recommends having your own suit, even if the vessel is not required to have one for you. He adds that certain vessels are required to conduct safety drills once a month, and thoseneed to be conducted by a certified drill instructor. He also notes that the survival suits should be serviced every two years. “They blow them up with air and look for leaks, dry rot, and open seams, and make sure everything is working.”

When it comes to brands, Roberts can’t make recommendations. “When you look around, Kent and Imperial seem to be the most popular brands, but Guy Cotton is making suits [Piel brand], and Viking is still making them, and Mustang. The important thing is not the brand, it’s that you have it with you and that it’s in good working order.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

The Coast Guard suspends its search for the crew of a capsized fishing boat in the Gulf of Alaska

December 3, 2024 — The search for five people believed to be aboard a fishing vessel that capsized in rough seas in the Gulf of Alaska has been suspended, the Coast Guard said Monday.

The search lasted nearly a day and covered more than 108 square nautical miles (370 square kilometers).

“We stand in sorrow and solidarity with the friends and family of the people we were not able to find over the past 24 hours,” Chief Warrant Officer James Koon, a search and rescue mission coordinator at Coast Guard Sector Southeast Alaska, said in a statement.

The Coast Guard began the search after the Wind Walker’s crew sent a Mayday call at 12:10 a.m. Sunday that the 50-foot (15-meter) boat was overturning off Point Couverden, southwest of Juneau. The Coast Guard tried to get more information as it mobilized a response, but the crew didn’t answer, according to a Coast Guard press release.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

 

Mayday at sea: How fishermen rely on distress calls for life-saving help

November 13, 2024 — In the summer of 2021, a mayday call went out from the captain aboard a fishing vessel who needed Narcan to help save a life due to an overdose on board. There happened to be another vessel in the vicinity that was able to respond, and they tossed a box of the over-the-counter drug on board. The captain administered several doses and was able to send his crew member back onshore alive.

While not all mayday calls result in a positive outcome, the use of the mayday distress call is important for fishermen to know.

In a life-threatening emergency situation, fishermen out to sea rely on the mayday distress call system for help. A mayday call informs the United States Coast Guard, local emergency officials and other fellow boaters of the need for help.

Read the full article at The Standard-Times

‘Nothing they could do but listen’: How a death spurred change for a SouthCoast fleet

October 28, 2024 — In the summer of 2021, a Mayday call went out from the captain aboard a fishing vessel who needed Narcan to help save a life due to an overdose on board. There happened to be another vessel in the vicinity that was able to respond, and they tossed a box of the over-the-counter drug on board. 

The captain administered one dose, but nothing happened. He gets back on the radio. A second vessel was carrying Narcan and tossed it on board. The captain, after the fourth dose, sent his crew member back onshore alive.

“That day there were three fishermen first responders that saved a life at sea,” said Debra Kelsey, with Fishing Partnership Support Services.

Read the full article at The Standard-Times

Rescue of six fishermen shows importance of personal locator beacons

August 30, 2024 — Six fishermen were rescued, and their disabled vessel was towed to Satawal Atoll in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) after a coordinated search by international operations. The United States Coast Guard, one of the crews involved in the rescue efforts, has written statements about the importance of a personal locator beacon (PLB) within the commercial fishing community in the U.S. and beyond.

“This operation underscores the vital importance of PLBs in maritime safety. By quickly alerting us to the fishermen’s location, the PLB effectively took the ‘search’ out of ‘search and rescue’ by narrowing the search area significantly and allowing us to focus on the swift recovery of the vessel,” stated Cmdr. Patton Epperson is the search and rescue coordinator for the case.

Read the full article at The National Fisherman

Captain blamed for fatal capsizing of F/V Mary B II

June 20, 2024 — The United States Coast Guard completed their investigation into the loss of the commercial fishing vessel Mary B II on the Yaquina Bay Bar near Newport, Oregon, on January 8, 2019. After convening with the Board of Investigation, the Coast Guard announced that the capsizing was primarily the owner/ operator’s fault.

Captain Stephan Biernacki, 50, was from Barnegat Township, N.J., and was crossing the Bay Bar when the vessel capsized, causing the loss of the boat and its entire crew. He had fished on the east coast off from New Jersey but was new to Dungeness fishing in Oregon. The Coast Guard had reported that the Mary B II had faced seas of 14 to 16 feet, with some waves breaking as tall as 20 feet. They had tried to direct the crew as they noticed them approaching the bar, but it had been too late, and the conditions were not forgiving.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

The Mayday Call: How One Death at Sea Transformed a Fishing Fleet

June 4, 2024 — The call from the Atlantic Ocean sounded over VHF radio on a midsummer afternoon. » “Mayday, mayday, mayday,” the transmission began, then addressed the nearest U.S. Coast Guard command center. “Sector Delaware Bay, this is the vessel Jersey Pride. Come in.”

About 40 miles east-southeast of Barnegat Light, N.J., the Jersey Pride, a 116-foot fishing vessel with a distinctive royal blue hull, was towing a harvesting dredge through clam beds 20 fathoms down when its crew found a deckhand unresponsive in a bunk. The captain suspected an overdose. After trying to revive the man, he rushed to the radio. • “Yes, Coast Guard, uh, I just tried to wake a guy up and he’s got black blood in his nose, he said, sounding short of breath on Channel 16, the international hailing and distress frequency for vessels at sea. “I got guys working on him. Come in.”

The seas were gentle, the air hot. In cramped crew quarters in the forepeak, the deckhand, Brian Murphy, was warm but not breathing in a black tee and jeans. He had no discernible pulse.

Dark fluid stained his nostrils. A marine welder and father of four, Murphy, 40, had been mostly unemployed for months, spending time caring for his children while his wife worked nights. A few days earlier, while he was on a brief welding gig to repair the Jersey Pride at its dock, the captain groused about being short-handed. Murphy agreed to fill in. Now it was July 20, 2021, the third day of the first commercial fishing trip of his life. Another somber sequence in the opioid epidemic was nearing its end.

Read the full article at the New York Times