Feature Story

 

SEATTLE – Troy Rentz, Commercial Fishing Vessel Alternate Compliance Coordinator for the 13th Coast Guard District, instructs two National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) observers on the appropriate use of a hydrostatic release for a life raft at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Northwest Regional Office here, Jan. 13, 2010. Annually NMFS observers attend a refresher course to reinforce the survival training they initially received. U.S. Coast Guard photo Petty Officer Colin White.

SEATTLE – Dan Hardin, Commercial Fishing Vessel Safety Coordinator for the 13th Coast Guard District conducts training on distress signals for National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) observers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Northwest Regional Office here, Jan. 13, 2010. Annually NMFS observers attend a refresher course to reinforce the survival training they initially received. U.S. Coast Guard photo Petty Officer Colin White.

SEATTLE - A National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) observer conducts an inspection of a life raft at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Northwest Regional Office here, Jan. 13, 2010. Annually NMFS observers attend a refresher course to reinforce the survival training they initially received. U.S. Coast Guard photo Petty Officer Colin White.

SEATTLE – Jonathan Fusaro, a National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) observer trainee activates a life raft in the presence of other trainees and instructors at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Northwest Regional Office here, Jan. 13, 2010. NMFS observers attend a three-week course in which one week is devoted to water survival training. U.S. Coast Guard photo Petty Officer Colin White.

SEATTLE - A National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) observer trainee demonstrates the proper technique for entering the water from an elevated platform at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Northwest Regional Office here, Jan. 13, 2010. NMFS observers attend a three-week course in which one week is devoted to water survival training. U.S. Coast Guard photo Petty Officer Colin White.

SEATTLE – Paul McCluskey, left, Observer Safety Instructor with the Fisheries Monitoring and Analysis Division, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) instructs a group of National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) observer trainees on the effectiveness of grouping in relation to creating a larger object to be seen by aerial rescuers at the NOAA Northwest Regional Office here, Jan. 13, 2010. NMFS observers attend a three-week course in which one week is devoted to water survival training. U.S. Coast Guard photo Petty Officer Colin White.

SEATTLE – Troy Rentz, right, Commercial Fishing Vessel Alternate Compliance Coordinator for the 13th Coast Guard District instructs a group of National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) observer trainees on the correct way to enter a life raft from the water at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Northwest Regional Office here, Jan. 13, 2010. NMFS observers attend a three-week course in which one week is devoted to water survival training. U.S. Coast Guard photo Petty Officer Colin White.

In seconds a fishing vessel can be overtaken by severe weather or suffer catastrophic structural or mechanical failure and be rendered powerless by the destructive forces of nature.  The potential for abandoning ship into water barely above freezing, where visibility is limited to a few miles, and the nearest vessel of salvation is hours away becomes a possibility. 

For the fishermen who brave the elements of the more than 40 fisheries of the North Pacific and Bearing Sea there is an array of critical survival equipment, which could be the deciding factor between life and death.

As a division of the Department of Commerce, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) observers are responsible for the stewardship of the nation’s living marine resources and their habitat. NMFS observers collect scientific data required for the conservation and management of marine resources within the United States’ Exclusive Economic Zone, water three to 200 miles offshore. 

The Coast Guard and NOAA share a mutual interest in fishing vessel safety and the enhancement of at-sea observer safety. Recognizing the leadership role of the Coast Guard in the area of fishing vessel safety, NOAA established a memorandum of agreement with the Coast Guard to enhance compliance with existing NOAA Fisheries and Coast Guard requirements regarding safety aboard observed fishing vessels.  

As part of the program it is mandatory all observed fishing vessels receive a Coast Guard commercial fishing vessel safety examination and all observers participate in marine safety training demonstrating competency in emergency response skills.

An emergency position-indicating radio beacon (EPIRB), an immersion suit (anti-exposure/survival suit), a life raft and a handful of other survival equipment and skills are the tools NOAA and Coast Guard use to train the NMFS observers aboard commercial fishing vessels.  Observer awareness and knowledge coupled with the equipment’s use in survival situations plays a critical role in preventing the loss of life.

“The Coast Guard has been working with NMFS, teaching survival training to the observers since 1998,” said Dan Hardin, Commercial Fishing Vessel Safety Coordinator for the 13^th Coast Guard District in Seattle. “We recognized the commercial fishing industry is one of the most hazardous occupations in the country.”

NOAA and the Coast Guard both realized because of the hazardous nature of the fishing industry, providing for the observer’s safety was critical, explained Hardin.

“NMFS wanted to make sure the Coast Guard was involved, to provide training to observers on what the regulations are for commercial fishing vessels and what kind of safety equipment should be on board and routinely inspected,” said Hardin

Observers are trained over a three-week period, for two weeks they learn how to collect catch and by-catch data from U.S. commercial fishing and processing vessels in addition to receiving safety information.  In the final week of training they are introduced to required safety equipment onboard the vessels, how to use the equipment, use of personal survival equipment and survival techniques once in the water.

“During the training we teach the observers how to use the regulations pamphlet that we have to determine what the vessel is required to have, in addition to teaching them to use a vessel-safety checklist,” said Hardin.

The checklist has descriptions of each piece of equipment, where each should be located on the vessel and how each is used.

One critical example of the equipment training is the vessel’s EPIRB, it routinely needs to be tested to ensure proper working order and the battery must be checked to make sure it hasn’t expired.  An observer also needs to inspect the vessel’s life raft to make sure it has been professionally serviced and is certified for use, within its date of expiration.

“If the observer finds a discrepancy with one of the highlighted items on the checklist then the observer immediately notifies the master of the vessel they cannot get underway with the observer aboard until the discrepancy is corrected,” said Paul McCluskey, Observer Instructor and Fishery Biologist with the Fisheries and Monitoring Analysis Division of NOAA.

The last day of survival training combines all of the knowledge and skills the observers-in-training have been taught into a practical in-water exercise.  Observers don their immersion suits in under 60 seconds, show the proper water entry method into the water, inflate and enter a life raft from the water, display the heat escape lessoning posture, initiate methods of arrangement to better signal possible rescuers and enter a mock Coast Guard helicopter rescue basket.

“The training was excellent,” said Jonathan Fusaro, a recent NMFS Observer program graduate.  “It was great to have the Coast Guard instructors in the water with us during the practical exercises. I’m more informed of rescue techniques and what to anticipate when rescuers arrive.”

The training, now in its 13^th year, has recently seen results from the field indicating it has played a significant role in preserving lives.

“A good example of the survival training the Coast Guard and NMFS has provided as it relates to survival is the Alaska Ranger that went down March 23, 2008,” said McCluskey

“As a result of the marine board of investigation, the testimony of the two observers aboard attributed part of their success to the training received by the NMFS and Coast Guard,” said McCluskey.

The Alaska Ranger sank 180-miles west of Dutch Harbor, Alaska, after experiencing unexplained flooding, which forced the 47-person crew to abandon ship at night into frigid water temperatures, 15-foot seas and 30-knot winds.  Helicopter rescue crews from Saint Paul Island, Alaska, and attached to the Coast Guard Cutter Munro were able to rescue 20 people and 22 others were rescued by the Alaska Ranger’s sister ship the Alaska Warrior.

The incident marked one of the largest cold-water rescue operations in Coast Guard history and one of the defining factors leading to the rescue of 42 out of 47 crewmembers was the distress signal, which was initiated by NMFS observer Jayson Vallee, who activated a personal locator beacon providing the Coast Guard with critical search and rescue information.    

The training was critically important.  It became second nature having the muscle memory to put on the immersion suit and the training through NMFS and the Coast Guard made all of the safety and survival equipment familiar for use, explained Vallee.

Aristotle may have put it best by stating, “Education is an ornament in prosperity and a refuge in adversity.”  The value of education and practical training NMFS and Coast Guard instructors teach observers anchor future decisions made in future potential life or death situations.  The training the observers receive isn’t limited to just them, as seen in the case of the Alaska Ranger; it played an active role in saving many other lives.