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Each month exclusively in the PRINT edition of CFN
Along the Coast
Ask the Lobster Doc
Bearin’s
Classifieds
Coming Events
Editorial
Enforcement Report
FISH SAFE
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 by Ann Backus, MS
Director of Outreach
Department of Environmental Health
Harvard School of Public Health, Boston MA
Phone (617) 432-3327;
E-mail <abackus@hohp.harvard.edu>
September 2008
Fog danger: Take steps to avoid collisions
Perhaps not surprisingly given this summer’s weather, several members of the Coast Guard Marine Safety Office in Portland, ME recently asked me to use FISH SAFE to talk about the potential for serious collisions in rain and fog, especially in areas where large commercial shipping vessels are present. ...continued
July 2008
CPR: New approach saves more lives
According to data collected by the US Coast Guard, there were 12 fatal heart attacks among fishermen in the First District between 1993 and March 2008. In fact, fatal heart attacks were the fourth most common cause of death after sinking, man overboard, and capsize during that 15-year period. ...continued
March 2008
Lady Luck: Life raft weak link failed
This column is written in memory of our fishing colleagues Capt. Sean Cone, 24, and Dan Miller, 21, who perished on the night of Jan. 31, 2007 while heading from Portland, ME to Newburyport, MA aboard the Lady Luck. It is also to take action on the recommendation of the Coast Guard commandant to increase industry awareness about the installation and purpose of safety gear. ...continued
January 2008
Tame power sources with lock-out/tag-out
Have you wondered why there is a hole in the flat prong of an electrical plug or in a circuit breaker handle? These holes became mandatory back on Jan. 2, 1990 as a safety measure because they allow for a wire or a special device to be inserted into the holes and locked so that the electrical device cannot be plugged in or that a breaker can be locked in open-circuit position. ...continued
October 2007
Officials credit drills for crew’s survival
On Oct. 4, 2007, New Bedford Mayor Scott Lang publicly praised the captain and crewmembers of Jacob Alan, a 70' fishing vessel, for their bravery. ...continued
September 2007
Protect against multiple hazards of welding
A recent item in Along the Coast (CFN August 2007) reporting medevacs of two fishermen due to eye injuries reminded me of my 2001 visit to the Hyundai container-ship manufacturing and assembly plant in Pohang, South Korea. ...continued
July 2007
Boundary line not the way to figure risk
From the standpoint of fishing safety regulations established under the Commercial Fishing Vessel Safety Act (CFVSA) of 1988, the “boundary line” marks the point beyond which federally documented vessels must have specific safety equipment. ...continued
May 2007
How’s your bilge system working?
On the Saturday before the rainy nor’easter of April 15-16, I was purchasing a portable submersible pump for my cellar. I thought it might be a good idea because the rains of May 2006 brought the water table right up through my cement floor, and I was pumping water out for seven days using my neighbor’s pump. ...continued
January 2007
Cutting loose: Knife grip, shape matters
In the November issue, we discussed the events leading up to and resulting in the drowning from entanglement in trap rope of James Tippett aboard the Virginia Ann. This time, we’ll address the importance of having knives readily available to cut free from an entanglement. ...continued
November 2006
Cascade of events led to entanglement death
From the fall of 1999 through the spring of 2000, a team of us from the Harvard School of Public Health interviewed over 100 Maine commercial lobstermen from Kittery to Spruce Head. We asked lobstermen if they had ever been caught in trap rope and we asked what strategies they used to prevent their sternmen and themselves from getting caught. ...continued
September 2006
For 2006, terminations up, casualties down
The Coast Guard issues a vessel termination when a boarding team discovers a hazardous situation for the crew or vessel. When a termination is issued, the vessel must return to port and is not permitted to resume fishing until the infraction has been corrected.
Coast Guard First District personnel report that the number of vessel terminations so far in 2006 is three-to-four times greater than the average number of annual terminations. As of mid-August the Coast Guard had sent 31 vessels home compared to the average of seven to 10 per year. ...continued
July 2006
Question for the crew: Can you run the boat?
I was in South Harpswell, ME in June with representatives of the Maine Marine Patrol and the Coast Guard Marine Safety Office in Portland participating in one of the Maine Harbor Visits mentioned in my last column (CFN May 2006) when this question came up: “Does the crew know how to operate the controls of the boat and the radio?” ...continued
May 2006
ME patrol vessels plan June harbor visits
The Maine Commercial Fishing Safety Council has developed a collaborative project with the Maine Bureau of Marine Patrol and the Coast Guard that calls for each of the state’s six marine patrol vessels to make one harbor visit in early June. ...continued
January 2006
Survival suit, dockside exam save fisherman
On Nov 26, John Sanfilippo was fishing 12 miles southeast of Gloucester when he noticed black smoke coming from the engine room. He opened the engine room door to investigate and was instantly hit in the face by a blast of hot smoke. ...continued
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