Saving Seafood

As anniversary nears, reports on deadly sinking unfinished

November 29, 2016 — Saturday will mark the one-year anniversary of the sinking of the Orin C and the death of Gloucester fisherman David “Heavy D” Sutherland, but the final federal reports on the deadly incident still will not be released until January.

Representatives of the Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board on Monday confirmed the new timetable for releasing the findings of the separate investigations and restated the government’s intention to release the reports simultaneously.

“We were really pushing to have a completed report before the anniversary of the tragedy to help bring some closure up here,” said Lt. Karen Kutiewicz of the Coast Guard’s District 1 Headquarters in Boston. “That was our goal. Unfortunately, it’s not the reality.”

The draft of the Coast Guard’s internal casualty investigation was completed earlier this year and forwarded during the summer to Washington, D.C., for review by officials at Coast Guard headquarters.

In July, the NTSB said it expected to release the conclusions of its investigation “sometime in the fall.”

An NTSB spokesman on Monday said the agency has not yet concluded its investigation and does not expect to have the final report until mid-January.

“Our reports are lengthy and detailed and often can take more than a year to complete,” said NTSB spokesman Eric Weiss. “The investigative process is not always quick or predictable.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Community gathers for Fishermen’s Memorial Service, honoring those lost at sea

August 29, 2016 — With the long line of American flags rippling above the crescent of Stacy Boulevard and the postcard of its harbor serving as the backdrop, Gloucester on Saturday once again wrapped its arms around those who went out to sea and never returned.

The number of Gloucester fishermen who have perished harvesting seafood from the cauldron of the North Atlantic Ocean now reaches into the thousands — the most recent loss that of David “Heavy D” Sutherland last December during a rescue attempt after his boat, the Orin C, went down about 12 miles off Thacher Island.

On Saturday evening, America’s oldest fishing community gathered to pay homage and remembrance to those who never returned to their hailing port from their last trip, with about 400 fishing friends and family circling the iconic Gloucester Fishermen’s Memorial for the annual Fishermen’s Memorial Service.

Speaker after speaker, from master-of-ceremonies Barry Pett to Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken and on to keynote speaker Linda Greenlaw, framed some remarks in the language of loss and remembrance.

But the indelible thread that ran through the service was that of the city’s perpetual resilience and its unwavering grip on the traditions and sense of community that sustain it through good times and bad, through bounty and crisis.

“I grew to love this place,” said Greenlaw, who rose to prominence first through her depiction in both the book and cinematic rendition of “The Perfect Storm” and later as an author. “It’s one of the very few remaining true fishing ports on the entire Eastern Seaboard.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

Gloucester boat captain in ill-fated Coast Guard rescue drowned

GLOUCESTER, Mass. (March 25, 2016) — The state medical examiner has determined that a Gloucester eel boat captain who died during an ill-fated rescue off Cape Ann late last year had drowned, a finding that brings new scrutiny to the equipment aboard the Coast Guard’s vessels.

David “Heavy D” Sutherland died moments after his 51-foot wooden boat, the Orin C, sank while under tow by the Coast Guard about 12 miles off Cape Ann on Dec. 3. The Coast Guard is investigating why the tow went awry and whether rescue vessels should be outfitted with more medical equipment.

Drowning victims can sometimes be saved if they’re underwater for only a few minutes and receive oxygen immediately, according to emergency medicine experts. But Sutherland didn’t receive oxygen because, unlike ambulances and airplanes, most Coast Guard vessels don’t carry it and crews aren’t trained to administer it, a Coast Guard official said.

Read the full story at The Boston Globe