Tag Archives: Fishing Vessel Stability

DFO rules forcing fishing industry into unstable boats

The ability to safely navigate in rough seas is not only dependent on experience. Boat design and stability are also crucial factors. And vessel stability expert Dag Friis says the current trend in Atlantic Canada to build wider fishing boats, to create more deck space and to comply with the maximum vessel length criteria set by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), is putting those boats, and their crews, at risk. photos, >click to read< 15:02

Lessons Learned: Commercial prawn-fleet accidents prompt new best-practices recommendations – Fishing Vessel Stability

Vancouver Sun – The dramatic loss of two commercial prawn vessels last season has prompted  the fishery — now in full swing on the B.C. coast — to adopt a set of best  practices aimed at ensuring hundreds of traps per vessel are transported  safely. The industry’s new best-practices document — in place for the current  spot-prawn season — recommends, in part, that gear be stored low to maintain  stability, that traps be stacked evenly and protected against shifting, and that  crews realize that winds across a loaded deck can affect stability, as can low  fuel levels. continued