The current year Cordiva salmon fishery is slated to start from May 15 and so the inspection is on to ensure the fishery is carried out safely. The Coast Guard will also be working with the Alaska State Troopers on the enforcement side to make the examination successful.
The programme offers fishermen an opportunity to work with Coast Guard representatives to ensure that their vessels meet federal safety regulations. It is obvious that the examinations is mainly on safety and address items such as flares, charts, navigational signals, fire extinguishers, Emergency Position Indicating Locator Beacons (EPRIBS) and the serviceability of immersion suits, to name a few.
Charlie Medlicott, commercial fishing vessel safety coordinator for western Alaska, told that it is far more desirable to find your immersion suit has a leak when you’re five feet from shore than in the open ocean. The officers will be evaluating the stability of the vessels they examine and may make recommendations to improve the overall safety of the vessel.
It is recommended that all fishermen wear personal flotation devices, or PFDs, when on the deck of any vessel. It is said that the exams are free of costs that give fishermen an opportunity to find and address any safety issues that may be present before they get under way. Each vessel that passes a dockside exam earns a decal. Fishermen operating vessels with recently issued decals benefit by being less likely to have to suspend fishing operations to accommodate an at-sea Coast Guard or Alaska
