By Sheila Dassatt
As I sit here and think about what is more important than anything concerning our fishing industry, safety comes to mind. I have been reading over Legislative bills, social media posts and newspaper articles about all of the issues that we have been dealing with in our marine industry. I asked myself if there is enough inspiration to write an entire article about safety issues that we are facing. Well, I will do my best to cover this subject.
There has been so much talk about the safety of whales that I understand, we all do not want them to be extinct. We also do not want to see any marine species have any undo suffering. This is not the nature of the fisherman. We are working on this every day and have been for years now.
My concern is about the safety of the fishermen and their crews on their vessels that will be equipped with all of the new requirements for the well being of the whales.
How about the twenty-five trap trawl that is being proposed? I remember a few years back, when we were all going over the same thing, that the size of the boat and the requirements for trawl lines and trawls was a major concern. An open stern boat may have a little more leeway than the standard, traditional stern. I have asked how these traps are laid out on the platform, and it doesn’t give much room for error. These traps go in a hurry when the first one is set, the rest fall into place, like a fast domino effect. If even your hand is in the wrong place, a person can lost a finger in the ropes. That is just the smaller mishap that can happen. Still, no one really wants to lose any fingers in the line of work, either.
Wasn’t long ago, a young man that I know, went overboard in a hurry, setting a trawl line and luckily, they were able to retrieve him and he lived to tell about it. This created an awareness for the rest of the crew that day and we were lucky that no one lost their life that day.
What about breaking rope? Have you ever seen the tension on a piece of rope that is rocked down? When that rope breaks, during simple hauling, it can have quite a kick back on the person tending the trap. Once again, I am talking about the hazards that the fishermen are facing every day that they go out on the ocean to haul.
Personally, I have been there when help is needed, and it can happen in a split second.
I can’t stress enough about the importance of the safety courses that is now required for the apprentices before they receive their Class I Lobster license. Mike and I have both taken the course with John McMillan Safety Training and are so glad that we did. To give you a little humor with this one, I took my course in February, when the cold was much like it is now. I didn’t think there was any way that I would be in that water in that kind of cold. But I did…had my survival suit on and it really wasn’t bad. When it was time to lay on our backs and experience floating, I suddenly felt a cold nose and our dog, Lucy, pulling me to safety! She was watching from the shore, and came out to save me. It was really quite a good moment and everyone got quite a kick out of it. But, all in all, we have actually had to use some of the methods that we were taught in some circumstances. You never think that it will happen to you, but it can and it does when you least expect it.
Something as simple as having an anchor on the boat is a very important safety factor. My Dad preached to us about hauling on a windy shore, and stressed about having an anchor on board, in case your engine should stall. Trust me, it can happen! When that engine stalls or breaks down, it doesn’t take very long for that boat to drift toward the rocks and then you are in a fickle. Some things that we have been taught by the generation before us always is in the back of my minds when we leave the dock.
Another one that is a good reason to carry survival suits is in case there is a fire on board. Sometimes it is just something simple like a wire overheating and igniting. Usually if you’re hauling, you don’t even notice this until you smell it and you have a full blown fire down below. Of course we have fire extinguishers, but they need to be up to date and with some fires, it depends on what you use to put the fire out. Does everyone know that? I’m even referring to recreational lobster trap folks that are hauling their five or ten traps. Safety and accidents at sea does not distinguish between commercial and recreational vessels. Having a good VHF radio can also safe your life as well as the safety flares that we are required to have on hand.
So please, we want to save the whales, but your lives are endangered as well. Take care and please do what you need to do to stay safe! We are also endangered.
Take care
