Fishermen consider regulatory changes following accidents

Lubec area fishermen recently met with Maine Marine Patrol and U.S. Coast Guard officials to consider possible regulatory changes that would help prevent the loss of life for any more fishermen in this area. Over 35 people, including fishermen, seafood buyers and Marine Patrol officers, attended the session, held in Lubec on April 13. Col. Joseph Fessenden, chief of the Maine Marine Patrol, stated, "It's pretty much unprecedented, the loss of life in this area. Something's wrong up here. We're looking for ideas about what's wrong."

Commercial ship's pilot Bob Peacock of Eastport noted that as many fishermen have been lost in the Cobscook Bay area during the last two years as have been lost in the Gulf of Alaska. The fishing industry has the highest fatality rate of any occupation in the U.S,, and Alaska's waters are the most deadly. "Who's next?" he asked the fishermen in the room, adding that, if fishermen don't change what they are doing, "someone will be next."

Relating the list of sinkings in this area in the past 22 years, Peacock noted that only one fisherman had died in dragging accidents during the first 15 years but that there were 12 deaths in the past seven years. Causes of the accidents, he said, were: fishing alone; lack of vessel stability from towing high; poor charts that are based on old surveys; economic pressure caused by overfished and closed areas; medical conditions or fatigue; lack of education concerning stability or survivability in cold water; towing with the tide in heavy currents; poor navigation; inexperience in new areas or with new boats; and the lack of personal flotation devices (PFDs) or manually inflatable vests. He recommended that a new survey be done of portions of Cobscook Bay and that the area around Falls Island be closed to dragging unless a vessel has a buddy boat, the fishermen are wearing PFDs and the boat is not towing from a high block.

Lubec fisherman Byron Matthews said that, with the three recent sinkings, two of the vessels were towing high, with the tide. He said towing low helps with the stability of the vessel. Fisherman Leo Murray agreed that towing from a block that is low "gives you more stability and maneuverability. If you tow high, you have no maneuverability -- you're at the mercy of the tide." Another fisherman noted that some fishermen are towing heavy drags on boats that are too small to handle the gear.

Kevin Plowman, a commercial fishing vessel safety examiner for the U.S. Coast Guard from Portland, gave a presentation that demonstrated how a boat quickly loses its freeboard and can go under if its drag gets caught down and the boat is towing from a block that is high, 12 feet above the deck. If the boat is towing from a block that is low, at the height of the bulwarks, the loss of freeboard occurs more slowly. "It gives a lot more time to handle what's happening," he said, noting that the analysis "gives a lot of weight to towing low."

Although dropping the tow line with a snatch block might cost $500, lowering the block with a second winch might cost over $2,000, fishermen said. However, Plowman noted, "You can't let economics stop you from doing this if it's going to save your life."

Bill Daye of Lubec noted that some fishermen "are just scraping by" and won't pay for lowering the towing block unless they're forced to do so through regulations.

Coast Guard Commander Michael Sams, the head of prevention for Sector Northern New England, said the Coast Guard is considering adopting a standard that towing high could be a terminable offense, authorizing the Coast Guard to send a boat back to port. "It's not to overregulate you, but it's for your safety," he said.

Plowman and Garry Moores of Lubec, another commercial fishing vessel safety examiner, said they are willing to conduct safety checks on anyone's fishing boat. "We want you to come home at the end of the day," said Plowman. There is no charge for the voluntary safety inspections. Fishermen indicated they supported the idea of mandatory fishing vessel safety inspections. Plowman also mentioned that a survival training course for fishermen will be offered in Portland in July, but fishermen said the training should be offered in this area.

Concerning other safety proposals, some fishermen objected to wearing PFDs, since they said they are not made for wearing while fishing. Peacock noted that there are inflatable vests that are made for fishermen, although they're more expensive. In Ireland, fishermen are required to wear PFDs and personal EPIRBs, which aid in detecting boats in distress.

Ideas that the fishermen did not support included closing the area around Falls Island, having EPIRBs mandatory for their vessels or adopting a buddy system so that one could only fish with another vessel nearby. Although EPIRBs were not supported, Plowman urged fishermen to use the Digital Selective Calling system that will transmit a boat's location through holding down the button on a boat's VHF radio. "It works better than an EPIRB," he said, adding that more information is available at <www.boatus.com>.

Some of the fishermen argued that they are forced to fish when the weather is bad, since there are only 45 open days for the urchin season. They felt there should be a way to allow boats to fish the 45 days without having to fish during bad weather. However, Lt. Alan Talbot of the Marine Patrol noted that none of the recent accidents were weather related.

Col. Fessenden said he would be taking back the message that there's a problem with towing high, particularly in the area around Falls Island. The Marine Patrol will meet with the Coast Guard to discuss possible regulatory changes and may discuss possible ideas with fishermen in this area sometime in June.

Elliott Thomas of Yarmouth, of the Maine Commercial Fishing Safety Council, said the ideas will be discussed at the next safety council meeting. Any proposed new regulations will go through a public hearing process before being considered by the Department of Marine Resources Advisory Council.