New Safety Standards Set for Fishing Vessels

by Laurie Schreiber

The federal government’s 2010 update of the Coast Guard Authorization Act includes new requirements for commercial fishing industry vessels that are currently in the implementation phase by the Office of Vessel Activities, a department within the U.S. Coast Guard’s Fishing Vessel Safety Division.

Among the requirements, the updated law sets new standards for survival craft, record-keeping, training for operators, vessel examinations and certificates of compliance, and construction of smaller vessels, according to a presentation made by David Belliveau, a specialist with the Coast Guard’s Commercial Fishing Vessel Safety Division, to the New England Fisheries Management Council (NEFMC) at its November meeting.

Belliveau said the question on the minds of many people who have contacted the Coast Guard on the updated law pertains to new standards for the construction of new vessels. Belliveau said the Coast Guard intends to publish an interim rule as the fastest means to implement the updated law.

A final rule will follow after a public meeting and comment period to provide “discretionary and interpretive language” to the regulations, he said.

According to information from the Coast Guard, the updated law is intended to provide uniform safety standards for all fishing vessels, particularly those that operate beyond three nautical miles of the shore, in federal waters.

Belliveau said the law sets new construction standards for vessels built after January 1, 2010 that are less than 50 feet overall in length. The new requirements, he said, pertain mostly to flotation, safe loading, safe powering, electrical systems, fuel systems and ventilation.

Construction of vessels that are built after July 2,1012 and are 50 feet in length or greater will be subject to classification society survey and requirements, he said.

“That means construction standards that your vessel needs to meet will be determined by the classification society that you choose,” he said.

A classification society is a non-governmental organization that establishes and maintains technical standards for the construction and operation of vessels.

Vessels that are built after July 1, 2012 and are 79 feet in length or greater will be subject to load line requirements, which can be issued by a classification society on behalf of the Coast Guard, he said.

In both cases involving larger vessels, he said, the Coast Guard will not prescribe the structural standards, but will accept the standards of the class society that will survey and/or load line the vessel.

The new standards will require fuller communication between the vessel’s owner or builder and a class society – before construction begins.

“Before cutting steel, forming cement or laying fiberglass,” he said, the builder/owner “needs to start dialogue with a recognized class society.”

According to Bellieveau’s presentation, “Classification provides assurance that a set of requirements laid down in rules and standards established by the classification society are met during design, construction, and are maintained during operation.”

The survey and classification process, he said, can include pre-construction plan approval, surveys during construction, certification that class and workmanship specifications are met, and periodic surveys to verify that the vessel is maintained to class rules.

The purpose of having a load line, he said, is “to ensure the seaworthiness of the intact vessel.”
A “load line,” also called a “waterline,” refers to the line where the hull meets the water surface. The load line indicates the legal limit to which a boat may be loaded.

“This is where the process might change for a lot of you who may be used to building smaller vessels,” Belliveau told the NEFMC. “I know that, as a boy on Cape Cod, a lot of guys who were carpenters and electricians and did other work during the summertime when things dried up, when you drove past some of my friends’ houses, their dads and uncles were out back with welding torches building boats in the backyard. And come springtime, they had three or four new boats in the neighborhood and out on the water. This classification and surveying, so far, has been more for large vessels. So this might be a new process for people who are building smaller boats.”

Belliveau called the new construction requirements a “collaboration where the builder and owner have a dialogue with a recognized class society. You get a hold of a recognized class society and you make your intention known that you want to build a vessel. Once the builder/owner and the society agree to work together, the process starts. That’s new.”
Once a vessel is classed, Belliveau said the additional requirements to get a load line will be minimal. The updated law has other new provisions.

There is a new performance standard for “primary lifesaving equipment” which requires that survival craft must ensure that no part of a person is immersed in the water; life floats and buoyant apparatus will no longer be accepted as survival craft on a commercial fishing boat operating beyond three nautical miles.

A new provision requires that the individual in charge of a vessel operating beyond three nautical miles maintain a safety logbook—a record of equipment maintenance and required instruction and drills.

Dockside safety examinations at least once every two years are now mandatory for vessels operating beyond three nautical miles, with a certificate of compliance to be issued to vessels completing the exam.

A new provision applicable to vessels operating beyond three nautical miles requires individuals in charge of the vessel to pass a training program covering certain competencies. The training must include, among other things, seamanship, navigation, stability, fire fighting, damage control, safety and survival, and emergency drills. Refresher training is required every five years. A publicly accessible database listing individuals who completed the training will be established.

The act makes assignment of a loadline a requirement on fishing vessels 79 feet or greater in length that are built after July 1, 2012. The act requires survey and classification of a fishing vessel that is at least 50 feet in overall length, built after July 1, 2012, and operates beyond three nautical miles. It also requires the vessel to remain "in class" and have the appropriate certificates on board.

The act requires the Coast Guard to establish a Fishing Safety Training Grants Program and a Fishing Safety Research Grant Program. (For more information and the full text, visit fishsafe.info.)

Belliveau said that information meetings about the new provisions were held over the summer with boatbuilders on the West Coast and in the South. He said that, if there is interest in New England, builders and owners may contact Ted Harrington, the Coast Guard’s fishing vessel safety coordinator for the region (617-223-8440, Ted.R.Harrington@uscg.mil).

“This is collaborative process,” he said. “Class societies usually make rules by committee, which includes surveyors and their constituency, which is yourself. It’s a collaborative process – that might be a little bit different than what you’re used to.”

NEFMC member Mary Beth Tooley questioned the Coast Guard’s process for implementing the new provisions via interim rule, before taking comment.

“That’s a different process,” Tooley said. “It sounds like you’ll have regulations go in place that will affect fishing vessels under the interim rule, and the industry won’t know what the final rule is until later.”

“Yes, this is a little different,” Belliveau responded. “The interim rule defers the comment. It puts the language of the law into a rule. We’re not changing the language. It allows us to enforce or to seek compliance with the law. But after the fact, once that interim rule is in there, you get to comment on it. And then there will be a final rule, and that will include the discretionary language of how to implement, by regulation, how these programs will be run.”

Belliveau said the new provisions will be phased in over the course of the next eight years, with final implementation effective in 2020.

“It’s recognized that you’re not going to be able to flip things overnight,” he said. “There might have to be alterations to vessels, new equipment bought, things of that nature.”

One NEFMC member wanted to know if the requirement to work with classification societies would result in increased costs for boat construction.

“I don’t know,” Belliveau responded. But later, he said, “The only way you’ll know what your additional cost will be is to contact class society and find out how they’ll administrate the building of vessel.”

“You start spending money the day you call the class society,” the NEFMC member said. “I submit that we’ll have a fleet of 49-foot 11-inch boats here and that’s it. Our diversity discussion is going to end today.”

Other NEFMC members encouraged Belliveau to do greater outreach to the fishing industry on the new provisions. Some boat operators, said NEFMC member David Goethel, will not be aware that they are affected by the updated law. NEFMC member Rodney Avila said that boat operators will need to know about provisions affecting their safety gear.