Columns – Fishermens News

Holiday Best Wishes from PCFFA

By Lisa Damrosch As 2024 draws to a close, I’m feeling all of the holiday feels—joy, hope, faith and, because I work in fisheries, I feel a bit Grinch-y as well. Most of all though, I find myself filled with gratitude. It’s hard to believe I’m nearing my one-year mark as executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations. This year has been a whirlwind of challenges, growth and learning. At its core, it’s been a year filled with appreciation for this community and the commercial fishing families who, despite the incredible obstacles we face, continue to support our coastal communities and work tirelessly to bring sustainable, local seafood to America’s tables. I know how fortunate I was to grow up in one of those families, a family that continues to fish now...

Commercial Fishing Sleep and Health – NEC study

By Jerry Dzugan, AMSEA “To sleep perchance to dream. Ay, there’s the rub!” wrote the Bard. It’s unlikely that Shakespeare ever went commercial fishing. If so, he would have known that trying to get to sleep on a vessel could be the rub. The Northeast Center for Occupational Health & Safety (NEC) has been partnering with the Alaska Marine Safety Education Association (AMSEA), Oregon State University and George Mason University since 2019 to better understand sleep and other health risk issues in fisheries. It’s one of the most comprehensive studies of sleep and health on commercial fishing vessels. The study involved sleep surveys with 262 fish workers and free in-person health exams provided by health care teams in fishing harbor locations for 162 workers. These fish workers came ...

The Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative: A New Hope for Salmon Restoration

“The development would remove part of the cost of waterborne shipping from the shipper and place it on the taxpayer, jeopardizing more than one-half of the Columbia River salmon production in exchange for 148 miles of subsidized barge route. This policy of water development, the department maintains, is not in the best interest of the over-all economy of the state. Salmon must be protected from the type of unilateral thinking that would harm one industry to benefit another. Loss of the Snake River fish production would be so serious that the department has consistently opposed the four phase lower dam program that would begin with Ice Harbor dam near Pasco.” From the state of Washington Department of Fisheries Annual Report for 1949, opposing development of four then proposed Snake River ...

Coast Guard Dewatering Pump Operations

By Jerry Dzugan, AMSEA In a flooding emergency, you can’t expect a rescue resource or good Samaritan to be waiting nearby. Vessel flooding and its often related instability are the most common source of fishing vessel losses. Consider the distance that a Coast Guard helicopter has to travel to deliver dewatering pumps. Plus, they don’t carry a pump on every routine flight due to weight constraints. It makes sense and is a good maritime practice to have your own dewatering pumps and bilge alarms. The quickest way to have a pump available is to have your own dewatering pump installed and maintained. Remember that an ordinary bilge pump is rated by the number of gallons it can pump in an hour. You want a pump that is rated for gallons per minute—a dewatering pump. The pump(s) should be ...

Facing the Challenges of Commercial Fishing: Why Your Local Port Association Needs You

Commercial fishing families have long been the quiet guardians of our seas, working tirelessly to ensure that tables are filled with wild, healthy and sustainable seafood. We weather both literal and figurative storms, adapting to environmental and regulatory changes while contributing to the economic and cultural fabric of coastal communities. Sacrifices and challenges on the ocean are simply part of the life of a commercial fisherman. We accept the unpredictable nature of the sea, long hours and tough conditions as part of the job. But today, the work of commercial fishing can’t be confined to the ocean alone. The issues facing the industry now stretch far beyond the water, threatening the livelihoods of commercial fishing families and the communities that rely on them. These are ba...

The Decision to Abandon Vessel

The decision to abandon your vessel is one of the most critical decisions you may have to make in your life. It’s also one of the hardest decisions to make, since we have an emotional and financial attachment to our vessels. It’s our livelihood, and we are responsible for crewmembers’ lives. In an emergency, the brain tends to be flooded with often conflicting emotions—‘this can’t be happening to me’, fear, guilt, shame and a flood of stress hormones, which make it hard to make decisions quickly. In 1989, 1,200 miles from shore west of Coast Rica, the f/v Butler was attacked by pilot whales that breached the 38-foot vessel’s hull and caused it to sink. ‘Bill’ made numerous trips into the vessel as it was sinking to gather more tools and supplies for the now inflated life raft. ‘Simon...

The Chevron Deference Ruling: What It Means for Commercial Fisheries

In a recent landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the long-standing doctrine of “Chevron Deference,” a legal principle that had guided how courts interact with federal agency regulations for decades. This major shift in legal precedent is sending ripples across various sectors, including the commercial fishing industry. As we navigate the implications of this decision, it’s important to understand the essence of Chevron Deference, how its removal might impact fisheries and what the future may hold. What Was Chevron Deference? Chevron Deference was established by the Supreme Court in 1984 through the case of Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. The doctrine held that when Congress passes a law with ambiguous terms, courts should generally defer t...

Safety Orientations

A safety orientation can help turn crewmembers from liabilities to assets in the event of an emergency. A safety orientation for every person who boards a vessel that leaves the dock is a foundational part of lowering risk in fishing. Take the case of the fishing vessel that capsized in the middle of the night, for instance. As the vessel rolled, the captain ran out on deck to find a crewmember hanging onto some heavy gear in the stern as the vessel was healing over. The captain yelled at him to grab the EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon), but the crewmember had to be told where the EPIRB was located. Soon, the whole crew was tossed into the water. Fortunately, the life raft inflated automatically. The crewmember was able to get to the EPIRB but he unknowingly turned...

Effective Emergency Drills

Conducting monthly drills during the fishing season can help crew members respond more effectively to an emergency. There are hundreds of cases where fishermen attributed their survival to having conducted emergency drills. It makes sense that if you repeatedly practice actions that need to be taken in a crisis at sea, you are more likely to react in a more effective way. Monthly drills are also a requirement for documented fishing vessels operating beyond the federal boundary line or with more than 16 people onboard. 46 CFR 28.270 states: The master or individual in charge of each vessel must ensure that drills are conducted and instruction is given to each individual on board at least once each month. Instruction may be provided in conjunction with drills or at other times and places...

The Truth About Fishermen and Ocean Conservation

When many people think of conservationists, they rarely picture commercial fishermen. But the truth is, we’ve been leading conservation efforts since before conservation was a thing. We always have been deeply invested in the health and sustainability of our marine ecosystems. We might not throw around the latest buzzwords and most of our knowledge doesn’t come from reading reports or crunching data. But make no mistake, we are paying attention—and are deeply concerned about the future of our industry and of our planet. A Deep Connection with Nature For many generations, commercial fishermen have spent countless hours at sea in every condition imaginable, doing what very few can truly comprehend. It’s impossible to live this life without feeling a profound connection to the ocean and ev...