Veteran Bristol Bay set netter Shannon Ford Ward still vividly recalls that day in the Naknek-Kvichak district of Bristol Bay 15 years ago when the boat she and husband Don Ward were sailing went down after hitting a set net line that wasn’t supposed to be there.
The Mustang personal floatation devices, or PFDs, that they were wearing saved their lives, she said.
“When our boat went down, nobody else on our beach was wearing PFDs,” she said. “After our boat sinking, everybody started wearing them because we were able to give concrete examples of why you need to wear them.”
The Ward family, which has fished Bristol Bay since 1933, operates as Two If By SeaFoods, offering a variety of wild Alaska salmon products online.
The loss of two drift gillnetter crew who drowned during the 2024 Bristol Bay fishery could have been prevented if they had been wearing life jackets, she stated. One of the two men had fallen overboard and gotten caught in the gillnet and the second man jumped into the bay to untangle him.
The Wards, who winter in eastern Washington state, teach pre-season marine safety training courses designed by the Alaska Marine Safety Education Association (AMSEA), which informs commercial fishermen of a variety of safety measures. Onboard drill training, including wearing PFDs, is something which some commercial harvesters consider essential.
PFDs
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has conducted research on the use of PFDs and published safety guidelines for reducing the risk of falls overboard.
NIOSH recommends that fishermen wear PFDs while working on wet decks and that they also practice recovery procedures regularly, such as using a rescue sling to bring a crew member back on the boat.
When it comes to PFDs, Ward recommends both Mustang and Kent Survival brands.
In a survey of West Coast commercial fish harvesters, they showed a preference for Mustang PFDs.
“Mustang is our number one,” said Jordan Clay of Kodiak Marine Supply in Kodiak, Alaska. Longtime gillnetter Robin Samuelsen of Dillingham, Alaska, who fishes in the Nushagak District, said he and his crew of four grandsons all wear Mustangs.
So does Michael Jackson of Bellingham, Wash., who fished Bristol Bay for 37 years before taking on a new job as captain of Northline Seafood’s freezer barge the Hannah. The Hannah is sailing again into Bristol Bay this summer to flash freeze several million pounds of whole salmon.
“Mustang, it’s just what you do,” Jackson told Fishermen’s News.
Nat Frank at the LFS Commercial Fishing Gear shop in Seattle, said LFS’ customers prefer Mustang and Kent Survival PFDs.
At Englund Marine and Industrial Supply Company in Astoria, Ore., spokeswoman Maui Anaya confirmed that their bestselling PFDs are made by Kent and Mustang.
Alexus Kwachka, a Kodiak Crab Alliance Cooperative board member, said his personal favorite is Stearns lifejackets. Kwachka, 58, said he doesn’t personally wear a lifejacket when fishing, “but I think old dogs can learn new tricks.”
In an ongoing study on lifejackets for commercial fishermen at Oregon State University, Professor Laurel Kincl said researchers found Kent Rogue PFDs to be the most popular choice of harvesters given the option of testing those PFDs, with 63% of fishermen participating in the study choosing the Rogue vest. Stormline Bibs were the choice of another 27%. Other options were Spinlock Belts, Kent Mesh Deluxe Vests, Float Coats and Hero Rashguards.
Jeremiah O’Brien of the Morro Bay (California) Commercial Fishermen’s Organization has his own opinion.
“We don’t use lifejackets,” O’Brien commented. “I’ve fished in three countries (United States, Mexico and Canada). Lifejackets are not something we wear. What we wear when necessary is survival suits. We treasure our survival suits and lifeboats; I do not know a fisherman who wears a lifejacket.”
Kincl said fishermen like O’Brien are the reason for the Oregon State study, which is a collaborative effort with entities including the Newport Fishermen’s Wives, Englund Marine and Jent Safety Products, AMSEA and others.
In 2024, the Newport Fishermen’s Wives Lifejacket Program was awarded a $6,750 grant from the Siletz Tribal Charitable Fund and a $44,925 grant from the maritime program at Northwest Oregon Works for the purchase of lifejackets and other safety gear.
The jackets were distributed at no cost to captains and deckhands on 109 unique commercial fishing vessels. Many fishermen said they wouldn’t have had a lifejacket without this program because they didn’t feel they could afford one. Quality lifejackets can cost anywhere from $300-$500.
Rain Gear
Also of great importance to commercial harvesters is choosing the right rain gear. Popular rain gear brands include Grundens, Guy Cotten and Vallation.
Ford Ward said she opts for Grundens “because they stretch and they breathe.” Hers are a high visibility green, while her husband prefers Helly Hanson rain gear in shades of blue, green and yellow.
Helly Hanson has been the standard for many years, said Bristol Bay veteran Fritz Johnson, whose favorite shade is an olive green, also good for hunting. For his crew, Johnson wants bright yellow rain gear.
“We might have a better chance of finding them if they go overboard,” he explained.
Seine captain Megan Corazza of Homer, Alaska, prefers dark green Grundens, but said her crew opts for the women’s line of Guy Cotten in orange with black stripes, along with Mustang PFDs.
In the rain forests of Southeast Alaska, veteran harvester Jeff Farvour, vice president of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association, favors both Grundens and Guy Cotten rain gear, for the way they fit and because they last a while, but said Guy Cotten fits those with taller, slighter builds.
He said he opts for bright orange because it’s the most common color and highly visible.
Commercial harvesters shopping at the LFS shop in Seattle like Grundens, Vallation and Guy Cotten, with orange the preferred color, employee Nat Frank said.
Rain gear favorites at Englund Marine and Industrial Supply are Grundens, Guy Cotten and Vallation. As for color preference, that would be “anything that’s bright,” Anaya said.
As a veteran summertime salmon fisherman, Theresa Petersen of Kodiak, who also happens to be fisheries policy director for the Alaska Marine Conservation Council, said she goes for lightweight orange Grundens bibs, lightweight pullover rain pants, a Grundens belt and rubber bands around the bottom of the bib to keep the weight of the raingear off of her shoulders. This also reduces the odds of getting water in her boots when jumping into the skiff.
Californian Jeremiah O’Brien opts for Grundens rain gear in yellow and orange, while Washington’s Michael Jackson favors Grundens lightweight material in bright green.
Gloves and Boots
When it comes to work gloves for commercial fishermen, Atlas gloves, available in a variety of sizes and colors, received the most mentions. A new retailer, Girls Fish 2 in Kenmore, Wash., accepts orders online on Facebook.
“I bought some of their gloves this summer and I really like them,” Ward said.
Waterproof boots with a good grip are also critical for commercial fishermen, with XTRATUF being the overall boot of choice, but Grundens and Guy Cotten were also mentioned.
“I sure like the new Legacy boots from XTRATUF,” said seine captain Megan Corazza of Homer. “They’re wider on top so they are not so close to your skin. I find them easier to get off and on. I think people with bigger calves get Legacys.”
Theresa Petersen of Kodiak has been using XTRATUF for 40 years.
“I love the Salmon Sisters octopus design,” she said. “I stay with these boots because I feel confident that I know their traction on decks and on the docks reduces my odds of slipping.”
XTRATUF is also the first choice of Johnson and Robin Samuelsen in Dillingham, Alaska, Linda Behnken and Jeff Farvour in Sitka, and Jeremiah O’Brien in Morro Bay, Calif.
“XTRATUF are still the go to boots,” agreed Mike Friccero, another veteran Bristol Bay drift gillnetter in Kodiak.
Grundens and Ugg boots were also mentioned.
Meanwhile at Oregon State University, the effort continues to encourage more commercial fishermen to acquire PFDs and wear them while fishing.
The collaborative program developed at OSU is based on the Lifejackets for Lobstermen program which was so successful on the East Coast of the United States, Kincl said. Participating harvesters there liked the Stormline PFDs with floatation built into it, she said.
“We are just starting the third year of our project,” she remarked. “We asked fishermen which PFDs they would prefer; they don’t like anything that might get them entangled or bulky. Some just don’t want to wear one. Some of it is peer pressure, and that’s what we are trying to change.”
“We feel that we are turning the corner,” she added. “That fishermen will realize that it pays to wear life jackets.”
Margaret Bauman is an Alaska journalist and photographer with an extensive background in Alaska’s industries and environmental issues related to those industries. A long-time Alaska resident, she has also covered news of national and international importance in other states on the staff of United Press International, the Associated Press, and CBS News.