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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 33 Number 6
February 2006
Maine council proposes safety training for apprentices
ROCKPORT, ME - Five years ago, when Maine was reeling from the loss of 10 fishermen during a deadly 13-month period, Gov. Angus King asked the industry what the state could do to help reduce fishing fatalities.
A fishing safety task force started meeting in reaction to the losses and the governor’s offer. Aided by federal funding, it convened a workshop that brought together Maine industry members, fishing vessel safety experts from Alaska, and representatives of the Department of Marine Resources (DMR), Coast Guard, and congressional delegation. The workshop drafted a set of safety recommendations that was given to Gov. King.
The Commercial Fishing Safety Council was created as a result of that initiative. Set up by legislation passed in 2003, the council held its first meeting in September of 2004.
It immediately began work on several of the safety workshop’s recommendations and is ready to take the wraps off the first of its proposals.
“It has taken us some time,” said Bob Baines, chairman of the safety council, explaining the organizational effort needed for startup of the new 17-member council.
The safety council will present its plan during a seminar at the Maine Fishermen’s Forum at the Samoset Resort in Rockport. The session is scheduled for Friday, March 2, at 2:45 pm.
The council has drafted two proposals:
Require completion of safety training as part of the lobster and crab license apprentice program; and
Implement minimum equipment requirements for all Maine commercial fishing license holders.
Lobster apprentices
The council is recommending that lobster apprentices be required to complete the fishing vessel drill conductor course as part of the apprentice program.
Presented in a one day (about nine hours) session, the course includes: firefighting in different locations on a boat, making a radio distress call, activating an EPIRB, using flares, recovering a person from the water, abandoning the boat, putting on a survival suit, and launching and getting into a life raft.
The Coast Guard has approved the curriculum of the drill conductor course and the people qualified to teach it. Courses are already available in Maine since some boats are required by the federal fishing vessel safety act to do regular drills.
The cost of a drill conductor course is about $150.
Baines said that the council understood that that cost could be a factor for some apprentices or students in the apprentice program. It is looking into other funding sources that could help bring down the per person cost, he said.
The law creating the lobster apprentice program includes a provision that allows the DMR commissioner to require completion of an educational component such as safety in addition to logging time on a boat to become eligible for a license.
Equipment
The second proposal from the council would add safety equipment requirements for boats with Maine licenses that are used in commercial fishing operations.
As a starting point, the council broke down the fleet both by size and area of operation, setting up a grid that it calls the “matrix.” The size categories are: less than 16', 16' to less than 26', and 26' and over. The areas are: inside 3 miles, outside 3 miles, and beyond 12 miles.
The council listed the safety equipment already required by the Coast Guard at each division. For example, a 16' to 26' boat inside 3 miles.
Next, it added items into specific categories. Most of those additions are for boats operating inside of 3 miles though there are differences by size. The equipment includes things such as: first aid kits, radar reflectors, compasses, and anchors.
“This is good common sense safety gear,” Baines said. “We have kept the cost reasonable.”
Copies of the safety equipment matrix will be available at the forum seminar.
The safety council has already talked to the DMR Marine and Lobster Advisory Councils about its proposals. The seminar at the Maine forum will be a chance for fishermen to have a say.
“We are looking for feedback,” Baines said.
LD 1764
The safety council wants to change the law by which it was established. The council’s bill is LD 1764, “An Act To Amend the Statutes Governing the Commercial Fishing Safety Council.”
The bill proposes several minor adjustments that would streamline the council membership process, Baines said. Those include allowing the DMR commissioner to make appointments instead of the governor and eliminating the requirement that the five commercial harvester members each represent a different fishery.
LD 1764 also proposes a significant change. The council wants its recommendations to be implemented through the DMR rule-making process rather than by going through the Legislature, as is currently required.
Baines said that council members were seeking that change for two reasons. One was time.
“The lobster apprentice initiative could become effective in 2007 through rule-making,” he said, compared to 2008 or longer later if it required legislation.
The council also thinks the DMR Marine Advisory Council is a good forum for debating the merits of safety proposals since it is made up of representatives knowledgeable of the fishing industry.
The marine resources committee held a public hearing on LD 1764 on Jan. 9, but had not scheduled the bill for a vote at press time in late January.
Susan Jones
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