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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 33 Number 6
February 2006
Coast Guard finds fishery regs did not play direct role in loss
The Dec. 20, 2004 sinking of the Northern Edge triggered not only shock and grief along the New Bedford waterfront but also angry suspicion that strict federal scallop fishery rules at the time were to blame for the tragedy.
In its investigative report, the Coast Guard found that the rules did not play a direct role in the loss of the vessel and five of her six crewmen. However, the report did detail a series of miscommunications with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) that led to the vessel being on a compensation trip during her final voyage.
According to the report, the Northern Edge was allowed one trip into the Nantucket Lightship closed area for a maximum of 12 days or 18,000 pounds of scallops.
Capt. Carlos Lopes left port on Nov. 10 to make that trip but mistakenly entered an open area code on his vessel monitoring system (VMS) rather than the code for the closed area.
Between Nov. 11 and Nov. 12, the NMFS automated message system generated 82 alert messages to the vessel’s VMS but “due to the area just opening up, messaging had not been implemented so the captain had no idea he was in violation,” the Coast Guard said.
On Nov. 11, officers from the cutter Dependable boarded the vessel because enforcement officials had informed them of the access code problem. The boarding team found that all permits were in order and told Lopes he could stay and continue fishing.
But because Nov. 11 was the Veteran’s Day federal holiday, NMFS was not aware that the Coast Guard had boarded the vessel and made the captain aware of the code problem. On Nov. 12, NMFS sent a message that was received by the Northern Edge “ordering them to leave the closed area” and re-enter the proper code, the report stated.
The Coast Guard continued by saying that records showed that Lopes sent at least two e-mails to NMFS asking the agency what to do but that NMFS said it never received the e-mails nor was it contacted by the boat.
The Northern Edge broke off its trip and returned to New Bedford early on the morning of Nov. 13 with a catch of 3,249 pounds of scallops. On Nov. 22, after receiving a broken trip adjustment sheet, NMFS approved a compensation trip, limiting the vessel to eight days-at-sea and 12,000 pounds of scallops.
The Coast Guard noted that this represented a total loss to the Northern Edge of two days-at-sea and 2,711 pounds of scallops. On Dec. 20, the price was $6.75 per pound, meaning the vessel potentially lost as much as $18,299 as a result of the confusion over working in the closed area.
Again stating its finding that “no evidence has been discovered indicating that current fishery regulations played a direct role in the decisions made or actions taken by the captain and crew of the Northern Edge prior to the sinking,” the Coast Guard made the following statement in its conclusions:
“If the vessel was not on this compensation trip to the closed area Nantucket Lightship, the vessel would not have been prohibited from fishing in other areas, and it is likely that the vessel would have operated in the unrestricted fishing areas.”
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