July 24, 2019 — On most days, Daniel Farnham is on the dock of his father’s fishing boat, working alongside his crew that catches squid, whiting, and porgy off the coast of New Bedford.
But on this day, the 100-foot boat is out of the water at a metal recycling plant. Farnham is wearing a hard hat, protective glasses, and a safety jacket conducting the boat’s biennial maintenance check looking for rust and chipped paint.
Farnham has been working on the vessel for over four years and says nature’s elements aren’t kind to the boat or fishermen.
“My first real commercial trip was hurricane force winds and 20 foot waves,” Farnham says. “But those are the conditions we operate in because these boats are meant to go out and work.”
Fishing is one of the most dangerous jobs in the country. In 2017, over 40 fishermen died while navigating out at sea — the highest rate of occupational deaths that year.
“[Fishing is] like trying to drive around in a car with no brakes,” Farnham says. “on a road made out of treadmills and having obstacles thrown in your way continuously.”
Farnham says offshore wind farms will make it worse. That’s because fishermen argue the turbines aren’t spaced far enough apart to allow vessels to safely navigate through them.