Safety

October 23, 2014 — Chainsaw accidents and falling logs and branches are among the main dangers loggers—the number one most dangerous job in 2012—face. Fishermen encounter many hazards as well, such as slippery decks, swinging equipment, and capsizing boats.

Few of the occupations that put workers at high risk are especially lucrative.

Loggers. Commercial fishermen. Firefighters. It’s not surprising that these occupations top the list of the most dangerous jobs.

But when research engine FindTheBest set out to identify how well high-risk jobs pay, one occupation that doesn’t involve such extreme working conditions landed on the list: truck drivers and delivery drivers. The reason: Transportation-related incidents are the number one cause of on-the-job fatalities across all job categories, accounting for 40% of deaths, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Read the full story form Time.com

October 22, 2014 — The father of the captain of the fishing vessel that sank off Campbell River said his son died a hero, trying to save his crewmates.

Barry Sewid, 34, and Mike Kelly, 29, both fathers of young children, are missing and presumed drowned after the 20-metre steel landing craft capsized five kilometres north of Campbell River just before 3 a.m. Saturday.

The sole survivor, Kyle Benoit, told his boss that Sewid called him up from the lower quarters as the boat was taking on water, and pushed him out the door of the wheelhouse, which likely saved his life.

The captain’s quick mayday call also triggered an immediate response from a nearby Alaskan ferry, which dispatched a Zodiac to pluck Benoit from the water.

“That’s the only thing that makes it a little better, that he was a hero,” said Sewid’s father, Norman Sewid. “He was always putting other people first. That’s the type of man he is.”

On Tuesday morning, Norman Sewid went to a lookout spot near the old Elk Falls mills to see if the waters were calm enough to allow RCMP divers to search the sunken boat, which is under 75 metres of water.

An underwater camera was able to locate one body in the vessel, but the waters were too rough for the divers to do a search.

Read the full story from the Times Colonist

 

October 14, 2014 — When a gray shape passes silently under his or her board, it's always there in a surfer's mind, that maybe this one is a great white shark. Most of the time, the big whiskered head of a seal will pop up with a noisy snort and curious stare.

There was no doubt in paddleboarder Tom Menard's mind that he was looking at a great white last week while out at Coast Guard Beach with more than a dozen other surf enthusiasts. The water was only 5 feet deep, and clear right to the bottom.

He'd just commented to those nearby that there weren't any seals around.

"I saw this shark as clear as can be," Menard recalled. "There was no mistaking it. I remember watching the outline of his tail, the whole thing."

Menard estimated it was around 12 feet in length, and really wide, as it passed between him and a woman surfer just 5 feet away.

"She looked at me and said, 'Was that just a shark?'"

Menard yelled out a warning and nearly everyone went in to shore.

"It does spook you a little bit," said Menard, 65, who's been surfing the Cape for 40 years. "This is the first time in my life I've ever seen one swim by."

Surfers have become more accustomed to the new reality of life in the water: There seem to be more great whites every year, and, since they hunt seals close to shore, they are being spotted in the surf line.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

October 11, 2014 — Veterans of Alaska's commercial fishing industry will shudder and remember, while those who have never experienced the perils of harvesting on the high seas will get a reality check on why the capture of wild seafood may pose danger at any turn.

Author Dave Atcheson, of Sterling, Alaska, tells it all in his new book, "Dead Reckoning," with stark descriptions of navigating a life on the high seas of the Last Frontier, and narrow escapes from Davy Jones' locker.

"Alaska may have at times kicked my ass but in the process it has taught me a great deal," Atcheson writes, in the book's epilogue. "And as I look back from this vantage point I know Karl was right that night on the deck as we surveyed our damaged boat: what doesn't kill you, if you let it, may just make you stronger."
Karl was Atcheson's shipmate aboard the ill-fated Iliamna Bay in the spring of 1997, on a fishing trip that went quickly from a major payday of a herring catch to disaster on the edge of the Bering Sea.

The day's work done, with the pursed seine full of tons of herring, the crew was in a celebratory mode, but fortunately decided to wait until the harvest was completely delivered to tenders on the way. The tender tied alongside had already reached its capacity of 85 tons of herring, and the crew was awaiting the arrival of a second tender to take more herring when, without notice, the tide began shifting, rocking the Iliamna Bay.

Read the full story at the Cordova Times

October 11, 2014 — The Coast Guard in Boston says one of its search and rescue teams and a local fishing crew helped keep a fishing boat from sinking.

Early Saturday, the Coast Guard got word that the 34-foot Lady Annette was flooding with one person aboard off of Maine’s Great Wass Island. A Coast Guard crew in Jonesport launched a 47-foot motor lifeboat while a nearby fishing boat, the Ashley N, headed to the scene.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Portland Press Herald

October 7, 2014 — A recreational fishing boat was abandoned after it began taking on water and partially sank on Tuesday. The vessel drifted and came to rest on rocks near Thunder Hole in Acadia National Park during low tide, the Coast Guard reported.

“A salvage plan is being put together right now,” said Boatswain’s Mate second class Calvin Legge, officer of the day at Coast Guard Station Southwest Harbor.

A fishing boat called the Tiger Shark, which Legge estimated at 40 feet, began taking on water about 8:52 a.m. between Thunder Hole and Old Soaker Island, he said. Only the captain, who was not identified, was aboard.

The captain summoned another recreational vessel that was passing nearby, and it motored to the scene and removed him. The Tiger Shark was about 300 yards from shore at the time, according to Legge. The name of the vessel that provided assistance was the Reconnoiger.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

BOSTON — October 6, 2014 — The third man was last seen drifting away from the area.

Two men have been rescued but the search continues for a third after their boat sank near the entrance to the Sakonnet River.

The Coast Guard says it received a call at about 9:45 p.m. Thursday from a relative who said the men aboard the 17-foot vessel were overdue from a day trip.

Read the full story and watch the report at WCVB5 News

 

October 2, 2014 — A Coast Guard helicopter rescued four people from a sinking boat off the coast of Rhode Island Thursday morning.

At about 4:15 a.m., the Coast Guard received a distress signal from the 60-foot Sakonnet Lobster after the boat took on water. The crew put on survival suits and abandoned ship.

A Jayhawk helicopter was dispatched and rescuers plucked the crew members to safety. None of them were hurt.

Read the full story at Tiverton-Little Compton Patch

CLEVELAND — September 20, 2014 — A Brooklyn-based importer is recalling certain packages of its dried vobla — a type of fish — because they may be contaminated with the spores that cause botulism.

S&S Food Import Co. is recalling its uneviscerated dried roach (vobla) with the  package code of "Best Before 06.05.2015," according to a news release. The vobla, which is a type of salted fish commonly served in Russian meals and snacks, was distributed nationwide in 5 kilogram boxes.

New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets food inspectors sampled the product during routine inspections and found that the fish had not been properly eviscerated prior to processing.

Read the full story from Cleveland.com

 

September 11, 2014 —  A seasoned fisherman was rescued after his 40-foot vessel ran aground in rough seas off Chatham during low tide Wednesday morning.

The fishing vessel Never Enough, with captain Bruce Kaminski of Chatham aboard, started taking on water at around 8 a.m. and was partially submerged in an area near Lighthouse Beach when help arrived.

Two U.S. Coast Guard vessels and boats from the Chatham and Harwich harbormaster departments were involved in the rescue effort, according to Derek Seehagen, an officer at Coast Guard Station Chatham.

"It was caught up in the low tide surf at the Chatham bar," Seehagen said. "There was some kind of problem with the vessel that led him to get caught up in the surf and that is being investigated."

Kaminski, who has been fishing for more than 30 years, according to the website of the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen's Alliance, could not be reached for comment.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times