It is with great sadness that we report the death of three crew members from the MARY B II. The vessel was returning from crabbing late in the evening on Tuesday, January 8, 2019. The U.S. Coast Guard reported that the 42-foot vessel overturned as it crossed Yaquina Bay Bar…
Articles Posted in Crabbers
Head Injury Aboard F/V Patricia Lee
Watchstanders received a call on Monday, August 6th from the 116-foot F/V PATRICIA LEE reporting that a crewmember had been struck in the head by a crab pot. The Coast Guard duty flight surgeon recommended a medevac. However, due to the distant location of the vessel, two Air Station Kodiak…
Search for Missing Crabber Suspended
The North Coast commercial crab season is off to an arduous start, as the U.S. Coast Guard oversaw two search-and-rescue missions this weekend. The search for one missing crabber who fell overboard has sadly been suspended. Shortly after 1 a.m. on Sunday, February 4th, two crew members who were tending…
Vessel Stability Reports and Safety
The overall safety of the commercial fishing industry is becoming safer every year. Those are the findings in a report issued by NIOSH in July of 2017. However, experts agree that an area that needs improvement concerns outdated stability reports. The US Coast Guard requires all fishing and crabbing vessels…
Wreckage of Seattle-Based Crab Boat F/V DESTINATION Discovered in the Bering Sea
A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Research Vessel has just located the wreck of the missing F/V DESTINATION that sank in the Bering Sea this past February. The vessel and its six crew members were tragically lost in the capsize. On the cold morning of Saturday, February 11, 2017, crew…
Washington Oregon Dungeness Crab Prices Jumped to $9 Per Pound
Commercial Dungeness crab fishermen on the Washington and Oregon Coast earned $3.10/pound at the beginning of the season in December 2014. By Christmas they received $4.50/pound, and by the middle of February 2015, prices jumped to $9/pound. Why the nearly three times price increase? One reason is this year’s harvest…
Injured Crab Fisherman from F/V IRENE H in Shelikof Strait Medevaced to Kodiak, Alaska
A crab fisherman reportedly injured his abdomen while pulling in crab pots on the F/V IRENE H on January 13, 2015. Crew from the fishing vessel called the Coast Guard to report the injury and ask for medical assistance. The Kodiak Coast Guard Air Station then flew a Jayhawk helicopter…
Crew Member with Crushed Hand Medevaced from F/V TRAILBLAZER off Cold Bay, Alaska
Crew from the 120-foot fishing vessel TRAILBLAZER called the Alaska Coast Guard on Thursday, December 11, 2014 to report that a crew member’s hand had been crushed in a crab pot launcher and needed immediate medical care. The Coast Guard duty flight surgeon recommended a medevac, and a Kodiak Jayhawk…
SAFETY IN OREGON AND WASHINGTON COMMERCIAL CRAB FISHING FLEET LAGGING BEHIND INDUSTRY
Operation “Safe Crab” has been set in motion on the Washington and Oregon coasts in an attempt to limit further deaths in the commercial crab fishery. In November, the Coast Guard will be conducting dock-side examinations throughout the Northwest ports for the safety of the crab fleet. These inspections will…
ALASKA CRAB FISHERMAN LOST OFF SEABROOKE
Tragedy has struck again in the Alaska crab fleet. On January 6, 2009 Keith Criner of Stockton, CA was pulled overboard while fishing on the SEABROOKE, 22 miles northwest of Cold Bay. Reports indicate that Criner got tangled up in a crab pot line while setting gear, and was pulled…