Marine Safety Training
WSG-Offered Classes Help Reduce the Risk of the Most Dangerous Occupation
Two years ago, when Brad Jensen, captain of the fishing vessel Aldebaran, learned he’d won a free Safety at Sea training class from Washington Sea Grant, he wasted little time in scheduling a session for his crew and himself.
Jensen’s swift decision may have meant the difference between life and death. In August 2007, while fishing in Alaska, his Port Townsend-based seiner struck the north end of Bold Island and started taking on water. At Jensen’s orders, the Aldebaran’s crew donned survival suits and boarded the vessel’s small skiff. Within minutes, the wood-hulled Aldebaran sank from sight, beneath the waves of Alaska’s Inside Passage.
“Thanks to that training class, we were well prepared to deal with this emergency,” says Jensen. “Everyone knew just what to do. Aside from a few bumps and scratches from the ship’s impact with the island, nobody was seriously hurt.”
Jensen and his crew were more fortunate than many other Northwest fishermen. With a fatality rate almost 36 times higher than that for the average worker, commercial fishing is the most dangerous occupation in the country. In some cases, shorter seasons and intense competition for harvestable resources are putting increased pressure on fisher men to work under adverse conditions. Combined with the severe ocean environment in the North Pacific, this creates an even greater potential for loss of life and vessels.
In its Marine Safety Update for Summer 2008, the Alaska Marine Safety Education Association (AMSEA) listed 17 commercial fishing fatalities off the coast of Washington over the six-year period from 2000 to 2006. There were 20 fatalities off the Oregon coast and 20 off the California coast during the same period. The Dungeness crab fishery accounted for 17 of the 23 total shellfish fatalities within the three-state offshore area.
“The Alaska Bering Sea crab fishery has been sensationalized as ‘The Deadliest Catch’ by the popular television show on the Discovery Channel,” noted AMSEA. “However, we found that the Northwest Dungeness crab fleet not only had a higher number of fatalities than the Bering Sea fishery during 2000- 2006… but also had a 50-percent higher fatality rate.”
Sea Grant’s Focus on Safety
Since 1992, Washington Sea Grant has provided port-based safety training courses for commercial fishing vessels for nearly 2,000 commercial fishermen, recreational boaters, passenger vessel operators and maritime students.
“Without exception, participants have made significant improvements in their readiness for emergencies at sea,” says Steve Harbell, WSG’s Marine Field Agent in Pacific and Grays Harbor counties. “They’ve been successful in dealing with flooding, man-overboard situations and firefighting on their vessels. Their preparedness has saved the lives of several fishermen and prevented the loss of nearly $1.2 million in vessel and equipment costs.”
“While our classes address these situations, they also train people to respond to medical emergencies that require contacting the U.S. Coast Guard and may involve medical evacuation by helicopter,” says Eric Olsson, a member of WSG’s safety training team. WSG’s Safety at Sea classes also promote an understanding of the capabilities and limitations of Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons and other commonly used safety equipment. “We demonstrate standard signaling equipment, life rafts and personal floatation devices, and also show crewmembers how to be resourceful by turning the flashes of digital cameras or the sun reflecting off a CD or credit card into lifesaving rescue signals,” offers Olsson.
Olsson also capitalizes on the classes to share information about reducing pollution at sea. As WSG’s Small Oil Spill Prevention Education Specialist, he is a strong proponent of the notion that a clean boat is a safe boat, freely offering technical assistance to help eliminate chronic small oil spills associated with boating operations and maintenance.
Olsson points to the benefit of being able to draw from the real-life experiences of the fishermen. “Because of our backgrounds, we can better relate the information we offer to the actual conditions aboard a ship,” he says. For instance, before she accepted the position as WSG’s Marine Education Coordinator, Sarah Fisken fished on a troller, worked on a factory trawler in the Bering Sea and spent nine seasons purse-seining in Southeast Alaska. For nearly 25 years, she’s coordinated WSG’s marine safety and technology training efforts in the Puget Sound region, from her office at the West Wall of Seattle’s Fishermen’s Terminal.
Not all of the classes that Fisken, Harbell and Olsson present are intended to prepare individuals for situations like that encountered by the Aldebaran’s crew. Many classes cover technical topics, such as Diesel Engine Trouble-Shooting or Fiberglass Maintenance and Repairs. However, two of the most sought- after classes — First Aid at Sea and Sea Safety and Survival — deal solely with the crews’ well-being. Both U.S. Coast Guard-certified classes meet the training requirements of the federal Commercial Fishing Vessel Safety Act. In Westport alone, Harbell says, the WSG team has conducted 17 drill instructor/safety orientation courses certified through AMSEA, the first in November 1992 and the most recent in May of last year.
“The safety classes help protect people on the water, but the technical classes can help defray some of the expenses incurred by owning a boat,” Fisken says. “If you can fix an engine on your own, you can often avoid costly mechanic’s bills,” she says.
Frequently offered Marine Refrigeration Workshops have become some of the most popular courses, according to Fisken. Fishermen need to be more knowledgeable about freezing their catches to meet the increased demand for higher-quality seafood, she says. During these hands-on trainings, workshop participants learn about general maintenance, controller programming and environmentally friendly ways to charge their vessels’ cooling units with Freon. A 7 1/2-ton refrigeration unit is often used as a training aid during class.
In recent years, WSG has offered certified safety courses for Washington’s Makah, Quilleute and Quinault tribes. As a result, WSG has expanded its positive role and made the seas safer for tribal fishermen and traditional canoeists.
“Washington Sea Grant has always accommodated both tribal and non-tribal fishermen by adjusting these fees to encourage maximum participation,” says Harbell. “The fees charged for our courses have been minimal, only serving to defray a relatively small portion of our expenses, while representing a commitment on the part of participants to complete the training.”
Back from a season in Alaska, where he fished from a leased vessel, Brad Jensen recognizes the value of that commitment. “I’ve signed up my crew for safety training classes several times in the past,” he says. “With Washington Sea Grant’s help, we now think and act aboard ship like a team. That’s made a real difference in the way we work together, and we’re all glad for that.”
Contact David G. Gordon, Science Writer for Washington Sea Grant, for further information.