Seattle Maritime Law Blog : Seattle Maritime Lawyers & Attorneys : Mikkelborg Broz Law Firm : Collision and Salvage, Fisheries, Jones Act : Seattle, Washington

The rising death toll and the destruction caused by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan last week are beyond comprehension.  It is also hard to fathom how the tsunami caused so much damage to several harbors along the California coast line many thousands of miles away from the epicenter. 

As reported today in the San Francisco Chronicle, wave damaged the Santa Cruz harbor, causing an estimated $17 million in damage.  However, the damage was most pronounced in Crescent City, which is California's most active commercial fishing port north of Monterey.  (Another Tsunami Jars Crescent City's Psyche, Economy, San Francisco Chronicle, March 13, 2011.)

At least 17 boats sank as a result of the tsunami, the Coast Guard reported Saturday, and nearly all of the harbor's floating docks were destroyed. A film of gasoline covered the water among the boats that remained in the harbor, many of them visibly damaged.  Damage totals have not yet been assessed. (Id.)

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 By Jess G. Webster

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Anchorage Field Office of the CDC has today issued an updated Morbidity and Mortality Report on Commercial fishing deaths for the United States for the years 2000 – 2009. During 1992-2008 the fisheries had an annual average of 58 deaths (128 deaths per 100,000 workers) compared to an annual average of 5,894 deaths among all U.S. workers (4 per 100,000 workers). The Alaska fisheries lead the way with the highest number of deaths, with most of those in the shellfish fisheries, but on a per participant basis the Alaska shellfish fisheries are doing much better (260 deaths per 100,000 workers) than the Northeast multispecies groundfish fisheries (600 deaths per 100,000 workers). The report notes that recent safety programs implemented by the USCG focusing on the Alaska crab fisheries have decreased deaths by 60%. The report also notes that none of the workers who died from falling overboard were wearing PFDs (Personal Flotation devices) and suggests that increasing awareness and use of PFDs, including styles integrated into work clothes, will be likely to significantly decrease deaths in the future.  This report can be found at the Centers for Disease Control Website. 

Stormy Seas of Poulsbo, Washington, is a manufacturer of such inflatable flotation clothing for commercial and recreational use.  

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