Fishing: a rislcy business 



Hauling in the net, pulling up the dredge 

 or just leaving the dock can be dangerous 

 when it comes to commercial fishing. 



Sea Grant fisheries agents Wayne Wes- 

 cott. Bob Hines and Jim Bahen say the 

 danger is created by a combination of 

 factors. 



• The weather. A sudden squall, high seas 

 or icy conditions can land even the most 

 experienced mates in the drink or capsize a 

 boat. Such weather increases the likelihood of 

 drownings. 



• Navigational hazards. Inlets and shift- 

 ing sand bars can ground a boat, leaving it at 

 the mercy of crashing waves. Or a rugged 

 sea floor can cut a hole in the boat and cause 

 it to sink. 



• Balance. Shrimp boats, for instance, are 

 top-heavy when the outriggers are up and 

 can roll over if seas are rough. The same is 

 true of overloaded scallop boats. 



• Gear. Winches and capstan heads, used 

 to pull in line, cable and nets, can be 

 extremely dangerous. It is all too easy to get 

 caught in this gear and lose a finger or arm. 

 Overhead, swinging trawl doors or heavy 

 nets can deal a lethal blow to a careless crew 

 member. 



ISiffil l i l it»f i ii«i i i^NW 



But Wescott, Hines and Bahen agree that a 

 well-trained, cautious crew and a properly 

 maintained boat can reduce the risk of an 

 accident. 



Pholo by Gene Furr 



"I can insure all the men in my fish house for 

 what it costs me to insure one man on a fishing 

 boat," says WilHam Smith of Luther Smith and 

 Son Fish House in Atlantic. 



Smith and his father own a fish house and 

 five boats. He's paying $2,900 per crew 

 member for P&I insurance, and his boats carry 

 five- and six-man crews. 



It's a cost Smith's business must absorb. 

 "There's no way to pass the expense along to 

 the middle man or the consumer," he says. 



Moon Tillett of Moon Tillett Fish Co. in 

 Wanchese agrees. 



"Everything we make goes back into the busi- 

 ness," he says. "There's nothing left at the end 

 these days." 



To reduce the possibility of lawsuits, Tillett 

 and Smith are more careful about the men they 

 hire to work on their boats. 



"I don't think about hiring people who have 

 an injury history or who have sued before," 

 Smith says. 



And to reduce the risk of injury to his mate, 

 Lewis keeps his boat in good condition and 



handles dangerous equipment himself. 



"I only allow my mate to cull," he says. 



Despite precautions, fishermen get only 

 slight reductions in premiums for good safety 

 records, Smith says. 



"All of my men carry survival suits, and I 

 have a life raft aboard every boat," he says. 

 "But I get very little credit for those things." 



Clinton Willis, president of the Carteret 

 County Waterman's Association, is even more 

 negative: "Insurance companies don't want to 

 write insurance for vessels no matter how safe 

 they are or what we do to make them safer." 



Fishermen also complain that insurers take a 

 national approach to the fishing industry. They 

 say there is no breakdown for regional differ- 

 ences and types of fishing. 



They claim that North Carolina crew 

 members tend to be more knowledgeable 

 about fishing, less accident prone and less 

 likely to sue than their counterparts in other 

 regions. 



"North Carolina has a good record," WiUis 

 Continued on next page 



Photo by Sarah Friday 



Doug Lewis 



