Articles Posted in Interesting Info

Heavy winds and high seas led the Coast Guard to close the Colombia River, Tillamook Bay, and Grays Harbor River bars over the weekend due to hazardous sea conditions. The bar closures were for all vessels. Information about bar conditions are available from the Coast Guard on VHF-FM channel 16. The bars were to remain closed until weather conditions improved. The Washington and Oregon bars are extremely hazardous, with the Columbia River Bar aptly named the “graveyard of the Pacific” because of the many casualties that have occurred there.

In mid-November, in a U.S. Federal Bankruptcy proceeding, Trident Seafoods lost a bid to purchase a Fish Processing Facility on Adak Island in Alaska. Trident was out bid by a competing purchaser, Adak Fisheries, who bid $488,000 plus assumption of $6.7 million dollars in pending bank loans. Trident reportedly offered $2 million but was unwilling to take on the debt as part of their bid. The deal may make it possible for the plant to open as early as January 2010.

The United States Coast Guard rescued five people after their boat hit a breakwall in Milwaukee late Sunday night. The vessel was traveling at McKinley Marina when they struck the wall at 20 mph. When the Coast Guard arrived, three women and one man were holding on to the bow of the vessel. The other passenger was floating unconscious about ten feet away from the vessel. All were taken by the marina’s emergency medical services to two different hospitals to treat the various degrees of injuries. They were not wearing life jackets.
The law office of Beard Stacey Trueb & Jacobsen, PLLC urges all mariners to use extreme caution when boating at night and to wear all proper safety equipment, especially life jackets. The maritime lawyers at Stacey & Jacobsen, PLLC represent injured mariners throughout the nation in claims involving the Jones Act and General Maritime Law. For any questions regarding maritime law or injuries sustained while working aboard a vessel, contact us at 206.282.3100 or visit our website at www.atsealawyer.com.

The U.S. is prepared to spend $50 million of the allocated federal stimulus money to help fish farmers who have been hit by a 50% increase in feed prices last year. These funds are designed to aid fish farmers all across the country. According to the Associated Press, the funds would “provide algae to nourish clam and oyster larvae along the Pacific coast, fill the bellies of tilapia in Arizona and feed catfish, trout and game fish in the Midwest and South.”
Many supporters of this allocation of funds believe the stimulus will help preserve the jobs that would have been lost because of the increased feed prices. Alaska spends $20 million a year of fish feed for its 35 salmon farm fisheries alone. The feed, however, comes from South America, something many “buy American” spokespeople hope will change, especially considering the potential annual sale of $170 million worth of fish oil and meal production.
While the Lawyers at Beard Stacey Trueb & Jacobsen, PLLC certainly support federal efforts to help working people, we would like to express our strong support for naturally raised and caught fish. The maritime lawyers at Stacey & Jacobsen, PLLC represent injured mariners throughout the nation in claims involving the Jones Act and General Maritime Law. For any questions regarding maritime law or injuries sustained while working aboard a vessel, contact us at 206.282.3100 or visit our website at atsealawyer.com.

A 2006 report regarding commercial fishing fatalities has pinpointed Pacific Coast fisheries as one of the most dangerous places to work in the country. This report, written by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), reveals an average annual fatality rate of 115 deaths per 100,000 fishermen, more than 28 times the national fatality rate of 4 deaths per 100,000 average U.S. workers. The average annual fatality rate for Washington, Oregon and California, however, was more than double the annual rate of fishermen deaths at 238 deaths per 100,000 fishermen. The leading cause of these fatalities is weather conditions, including large waves and subsequent flooding. None of persons whose deaths resulted from vessel loss were able to enter a functioning life raft, either because of the inadequate size, location or condition of the life raft.

While commercial fishing has long been associated with high fatality rates, this report is the first to identify extremely dangerous Pacific Coast fisheries outside of Alaska, whose fatality rate has dropped significantly to 107 deaths per 100,000 fishermen. While Alaska’s Bering Sea crab fishery has been described as the most dangerous fishery on the Pacific Coast, data from this report indicates that the Northwest Dungeness crab fleet had a greater number of fatalities and a higher fatality rate during 2000-2006. Many attribute such a dramatic change in the fatality rate to the significant safety improvements made in Alaskan fisheries during the 1990s. These safety improvements included requirements for emergency gear, development of hands-on safety training, and tailoring safety interventions addressing specific hazards for particular fishing fleets.

Such impressive results have many seeking similar requirements on all Pacific Coast fisheries. The CDC is particularly concerned regarding the lack of use of life rafts and immersion suits, likely contributed to a survival rate of 94% among commercial fisherman aboard Alaskan vessels that capsized during 1997-1999. The CDC determined that, during 1992-2004, survivors of vessel sinkings in Alaska were approximately seven times more likely to have worn an immersion suit and 15 times more likely to have used a life raft that the decedents. It is for these reasons that the CDC is attempting to add emphasis on formal marine safety training in the deployment and use of life rafts and immersion suits in the Pacific Coast fisheries. Another suggestion by the CDC to improve the fatality rate is the implementation of a safety program tailored to the Dungeness crab fleet, which would reduce deaths in the Northwest Dungeness crab fishery.

The United States Coast Guard reports that they have received a Mayday call for the 58-foot commercial fishing vessel, ICY MIST. The fishing vessels Arctic Fox and Norther Glacier relayed the early morning Mayday call to the Coast Guard, reporting that the ICY MIST was taking on water. The vessel is reportedly grounded on the shore of Akutan Island, and is in danger of breaking up. Akutan is a remote island approximately 80 miles east of Dutch Harbor. Four crewmen are reportedly on board the vessel. The Coast Guard Cutter Monroe, and two Jayhawk helicopters are en route to assist the vessel.