CG to Fishermen: Check Safety Gear

by Laurie Schreiber

The U.S. Coast Guard had its usual strong presence at the Maine Fishermen’s Forum this year, as they continue to urge fishermen to stay on top of safety issues.

Officials with the Coast Guard’s Commercial Fishing Vessel Safety Program once again provided life raft and immersion suit training as well as instruction on water survival techniques and free inspections of immersion suits.

Admiral Joseph Nimmich, commander of the U.S. Coast Guard’s First District, spoke to dozens of fishermen during the annual Maine Lobstermen’s Association meeting about the agency’s latest concerns regarding the life-saving equipment – or lack thereof – that fishermen carry on their boats, as well as the stability of their vessels.

“This morning, just to be able to say that I understand a little better what you guys do, I got into a gumby suit and got in the water,” Nimmich said. “And I’ve got to tell you, it’s been a long time since I got into a gumby suit. They’re hard to get into, and to get into when you are in extremis and things are flying apart around you and you’re trying to put that damned thing on. But that damned thing will give you the two hours that I need to save your life. So I ask you to practice to get into the gumby suit to understand how difficult they are, and to keep them where you can get to them.”

A “gumby” suit is so called because the floating survival suit makes the wearer look like Gumby. The insulated neoprene suit covers the wearer from head to foot, comes with a face shield, and is designed to provide flotation and protection from hypothermia.

Coast Guard inspectors find, he said, that fishermen often stow their suits below so they won’t be damaged, because they’re expensive. But in an emergency situation, he said, fishermen will be unlikely to get below, or get there in time.

“I just lost a young man with five kids out of Gloucester, because he fell off the back of a lobster boat,” he said. “The captain heard him fall over, but by the time he turned around to pick him up, he was gone. He had no flotation on at all, his boots filled up, he didn’t know how to swim, and he was gone. Those flotation oilskins, instead of just putting a double layer of plastic there, they put in foam so you can get a little bit of flotation and they will hold somebody up even with their boots on.”

Nimmich also spoke to the importance of keeping a life raft, and keeping it in good working order.

“I know it’s expensive to make sure the life rafts are inspected,” he said. “But I’ll tell you, when I’m looking for you, I’ll find that life raft a hell of a lot faster than I’ll find you in the water. So make sure your safety equipment is up and running and that you know how to use it.”

This year, he said, Coast Guard safety inspections will focus on emergency position indicating radio beacons, commonly referred to simply as EPIRBs.

Too often, he said, fishermen who have bought a second-hand boat that is already equipped with an EPIRB neglect to change the beacon’s registration.

“So when that EPIRB goes off, we’re on the phone with people who have no relationship to you anymore, and we can’t tell if you’re underway or not,” Nimmich said.

The Coast Guard will be providing documentation on every commercial vessel and safety inspection a fisherman does to make sure they’re up-to-date, he said. Even more significant, he said, is fishing vessel stability. Many fishermen, he said, don’t understand that, when they change over from one type of fishing gear to another, it can change the stability of their boats. The Coast Guard can help fishermen determine their vessel’s stability, he said.

“You all know better than I how many people die quickly when they change their boat,” he said. “And I know you’re trying change the boat from one fishing industry to another in order to make a living, but let’s do it in a way that you can make a living and not die.”

Nimmich said the Coast Guard aims to help, not hinder, the fishing industry. “We’re here to understand your industry better so we can serve you better, and how we can go about saving you,” he said. “But my message is, you are the first responder. You need to take care of yourself for that first hour or two so we can get to you. Because if you don’t, we’ll be bringing your remains in rather than you.”

As it happened, a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter, on hand for viewing on the grounds of the Samoset Resort, where the forum was held, was deployed on Saturday shortly after noon to join a search and rescue operation off Vinalhaven in res- ponse to a distress call from an unknown fishermen who said his boat had sunk. By mid-afternoon, the search had failed to turn up anyone in distress and the call was believed to be a hoax.