September 11, 2023 — Even as safety has improved vastly in the Alaska fishing industry overall, harvesters who operate from small, open skiffs continue to face risks.
Among those who continue to contend with mortal dangers are those who use set nets in Western Alaska’s Norton Sound, a group of largely Native fishers whose families have been working on the water for generations. Set nets, typically anchored to the seabed or river bed, trap fish in fixed locations.
Now a pilot program examining ways that Indigenous knowledge addresses fishing safety in the Norton Sound community of Unalakleet has come up with some recommendations. The findings are in a recently published study authored by the two women who conducted the pilot project, Leann Fay and Mayugiaq Melanie Sagoonick of the Sitka-based Alaska Marine Safety Education Association.
Fay said higher risks are almost inherent in this type of fishing as it is conducted in Unalakleet, where harvesters maneuver their small boats around fixed nets.
“The boat is just so much smaller, and it’s an open skiff and it can get flooded really easily. Also, it doesn’t take much for it to be destabilized,” she said.
One straightforward response to the problem, the research found, is to provide better life jackets. Those that are commonly used are cheaper varieties that are bulky and can be uncomfortable for active fishers, which means they sometimes do not wear them, said Fay, who was recently appointed as AMSEA’s executive director.