In a first major overhaul of the safety laws Congress may impose new construction standards on the nation’s fishing vessels, require training of skippers and mandate Coast Guard inspections. It is said that the big push for new safety legislation comes from a Midwestern congressman, Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., whose district is far from the major fishing ports.
It is informed that legislation has been under development for more than two years and is expected to go to the full House for a vote this summer. In the Senate, Washington Democrat Maria Cantwell has a key role in tackling industry safety through her chairmanship of the Senate subcommittee with oversight over the Coast Guard and fisheries.
The Pacific Northwest and Alaska have some of the most treacherous fisheries, as exemplified in the death of 12 fishermen last year in the Bering Sea sinkings of the Seattle-based Alaska Ranger and Katmai fishing boats. The effort to improve fishing-fleet safety has for decades pitted independent-minded boat owners — wary of bureaucratic rules — against reformers.
The information revealed that the House bill’s focus on boats as small as 50 feet long reflects Coast Guard risk analysis. Statistics compiled during a 15-year period that ended in 2007 found that vessels between 50 and 79 feet long had the highest loss rates in the entire fishing fleet. Tough construction standards for the smaller boats are a point of contention.
