Fishing Vessel Safety Blueprint for a National Program (1991) / Chapter Skim
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2 COMMERCIAL FISHING: AN INDUSTRY OVERVIEW
2 COMMERCIAL FISHING: AN INDUSTRY OVERVIEW
Pages 18-37
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From page 18... ...
The ports in which these vessels are documented do not necessarily reflect the regions where they are employed. For example, a significant number of vessels from the West Coast, and to a lesser degree from the North Atlantic region, are operated in North Pacific and Alaskan waters.
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From page 19... ...
A documented vessel's actual use in the fishing industry is not monitored by Coast Guard automated information systems or data bases. In 1987, the latest year for which broad-based industry data are available regionally, it is estimated that about 31,000 federally documented fishing industry vessels and 80,000 smaller craft were registered with the coastal states (with the Coast Guard in Alaska)
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From page 20... ...
6The number of commercial fishing vessels bearing state numbers is not known. West Coast and Alaska figures are close approximations.
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From page 21... ...
FISHING INDUSTRY VESSELS AND FISHERMEN This introduction to the commercial fishing industry turns now to the vessels, the people who earn their living aboard them, and the working conditions in
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From page 22... ...
The fishermen who operate these vessels are as diverse as the vessels themselves. The Vessels In simplest terms, commercial fishing vessels are self-propelled or winddriven platforms used to catch fish for profit.
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From page 23... ...
, or a crewman. Used collectively in this study, the term fisherman applies to the captain and all members of the crew engaged in service on deck or in engineering departments or capacities aboard a fishing industry vessel.
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From page 24... ...
and particular operations (e.g., factory trawlers)
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From page 25... ...
A chief implementation problem may be cultural and social uniqueness; however, commercial fishermen in the United States have found ways to cope with previous mandates, such as the resource management schemes of the MFCMA and ensuing state and regional management developments. The indicators of adjustment are increased involvement of commercial fishermen in the management process, such as participation on advisory panels, attendance at hearings, the strengthening of association ties to promote their interests, and the use of political influence.
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From page 26... ...
In most cases, fishermen are not required to have their professional competency validated by third parties or their physical condition screened prior to employment. In the majority of the fleet, fishing vessels are not surveyed or inspected during construction or operation to ensure satisfactory material condition (vessels do not maintain themselves)
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From page 27... ...
Federal management was the result of international treaty obligations covering tunas, Pacific halibut, West Coast salmon, and most finfish and some shellfish of the northeast Atlantic. These earlier conservation regimes addressed seasons, gear limitations, national quotas, and some area closures and size limits.
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From page 28... ...
This legal liability regime is considered onerous and economically disruptive by many fishing vessel owners, because it generates problems in the pricing and availability of liability insurance. (Chapter 7 discusses the impact of this legislation further.)
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From page 29... ...
Exclusive of vessels home-ported outside the region, there are about 5,100 documented fishing industry vessels operating from ports in the North Atlantic region. Of these, fewer than 12 have combined catching and processing capabilities, and there are a few fish tenders (Griffen, 1989a,b; Piatt, 1990~.
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From page 30... ...
There are approximately 10,000 documented fishing vessels. No fish processing vessels are based in the region, although one vessel is being converted to process multiple species in the Gulf of Mexico.
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From page 31... ...
Overall, the majority of fishing vessels operate within 3 nautical miles of shore. The major commercial fisheries are shrimp, menhaden, spiny lobster, stone crab, swordfish, reef fish, and oysters (NOAA, 1990b)
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From page 32... ...
West Coast Region There are nearly 5,000 documented fishing vessels operating in waters off the West Coast, providing work for about 11,000 fishermen. An estimated 6,000 fishing vessels bearing state numbers also operate in these waters (Jacobson et al., 19901.
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From page 33... ...
They also include North Pacific and Alaskan waters for a large number of vessels home-ported on the West Coast. The major fishing grounds for many vessels from Oregon and Washington are in the Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska, and Alaska State waters for salmon, king and tanner crabs, halibut, and groundfish.
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From page 34... ...
, and new joint venture arrangements are occurring domestically through alliances between U.S.-flag factory processing and fishing vessels. Many of the larger vessels are based in Puget Sound and other Pacific Northwest ports (Coopers and Lybrand, 1990; Natural Resource Consultants, 1986, 1988; Campbell, 1990~.
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From page 35... ...
Industrial safety equipment such as hard hats are in use aboard some vessels. (American Factory Trawler Association)
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From page 36... ...
These numbers include vessels operating from West Coast ports and can vary significantly from year to year. Charter vessels, of which there are about 1,400, have expanded significantly in number over the past several years and are outside the scope of this study (some may be converted fishing vessels, but this cannot be determined from available data)
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From page 37... ...
The fishing vessels used in these fisheries range from small, outboard-powered skiffs to large (300 feet or longer) , sophisticated factory trawlers, crab vessels, and factory ships.
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