Safety Aboard Fishing Vessels

and certain medium-size trawlers. Situation not too critical in small otter-trawl fleet.

3. Towing-Block Snubbing Chain: Install chain on all blocks to prevent block from flying inboard when trawling wires are released. Recommend this be made mandatory for all large trawlers.

4. Installation of Pilothouse Winch Control Switch (Electric-Driven Winches Only): Should be installed within easy reach of man in pilothouse for use in emergencies only. Would provide a double check on winch operator and introduce extra safety factor to a potentially-dangerous operation.

5. Inadequate Guards on Chain-Driven Power Takeoffs: Many medium trawlers operate trawl winches by means of a direct-chain drive from main engine. Invariably, the chain drives are poorly guarded and jammed up in an almost inaccessible location. Recommend a complete guard enclosing all chain drives.

6. Smooth Deck Surfacing: Injuries resulting from falls on shipboard comprise a large part of all fishing fleet insurance claims. While deck footing conditions during actual fishing operations are admittedly hazardous, addition of abrasive material to main deck working areas would assure safer footing. Application of skid-resistant materials presents an inexpensive means of combating shipboard injuries from falls, and should be required on all fishing vessels.

7. Insufficient Clearance on Mast Ladders: Inspection of mast ladders show that many are set too close to the mast with insufficient toe room for climber. Ladders should be

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are invariably fought in enclosed spaces. Replace with dry powder or CO,-type extinguishers.

11. Rigging of Lifelines During Heavy Weather: When vessels are jogging or running in heavy weather, lifelines should be rigged from forecastle to breakdeck and further aft to galley entrance if indicated.

12. Pyrofax Gas Burners in Galley and Engine Room: Gas heavier than air and highly explosive--extremely dangerous when leaks occur and gas settles in bilges.

13. Worn or Slippery Companionway Steps: Frequently found on medium and small boats and unnoticed until an accident happens. Addition of treads to steps would afford maximum protection.

14. Unvented Fuel Filling Pipes: Vent pipes should be required for all fuel-filling lines to prevent overflow of fuel into bilges.

15. Inspection Standards for all Commercial Fishing Vessels: Fishing vessels should be subject to official inspection and maintenance standards, with certification by marine surveyors. With the cooperation of the fishing industry and insurance companies, standards can be developed for various classes of boats, based on tonnage, type of fishing, or combinations of both factors. Major subjects would include-hull construction, engine installation, deck and fishing equipment condition and layout, fire-fighting equipment, safety appliances, life-saving equipment, and periodic inspections.

UNSAFE PRACTICES ABOARD NEW ENGLAND TRAWLERS LISTED: The U. S. Bureau of Commercial Fisheries New England Safety Program staff has prepared a list of unsafe practices found on New England large and medium otter trawlers. The list is "far from complete," but elimination of these hazards and practices could contribute greatly towards reducing the present accident rate, and save both lives and money.

1. Crossing Over Trawl Wires While Wires are in Motion: It is common practice for the men to step over the trawl wire during setting and hauling of the trawl net. This is an extremely dangerous act particularly during net setting when the wires are speeding through the deck bollards, and a slip would throw the man onto the wire and through the bollard. This act should be outlawed on all large and medium vessels. Guard rails for deck bollards, similar to the type now found on the Bureau's M/V Delaware, and the trawlers Luckimee and Cashmeer, should be made mandatory equipment on all large and medium trawlers.

2. Hand-Steering of Trawl Wires on Winch Drums: An extremely dangerous situation in which men stand directly in front of trawling winch and by means of heavy steel bars attempt to evenly spool incoming wire onto winch drum. Many accidents have resulted from this hazardous arrangement. Installation of a steering arrangement operated by the winch operators from back of the winch should be made. mandatory on all large otter trawlers.

3. Winch Operator Leaving Station During Hauling Operation: A common practice, especially on the medium trawlers, is for the winch operator to leave his post at the controls while the trawl wire is being retrieved. While the operator may not stray more than a few feet away from his post, this could result, and has in the past resulted, in serious accidents both to personnel and equipment, due to operator's delay in reaching the winch-stop control.

4. Using Improper Tools to Release Towing Wires from Hook-Up Block: During fishing operations the trawling wires are locked into a towing or hook-up block attached to the stern quarter of the vessel and held in the block by a hinged steel section secured by a heavy locking pin. Release of towing wires prior to hauling the net is done by removing locking pin and prying or knocking hinged section upwards. In many cases a short wrench or spanner is used and the violent spring of the released block strikes the tool or hand of the operator. A long heavy bar is indicated for this operation and should be provided and used for this act.

5. Use of Improvised Platform to Reach Trawl Doors in Gallows: Use of wooden rollers, boxes, or similar items, placed under the forward gallows to allow men to reach fishing gear is a common practice on large vessels. This presents an insecure footing and can be eliminated by installing a steel platform at the base of the gallows, of sufficient height as needed..

6. Leaving Deck Bunker Plates Open and Unattended: Many vessels have deck bunker plates for loading fish below deck and also used to unload fish at dockside. Occasionally, the openings are left unguarded and present a definite hazard to the unwary--this is especially dangerous when allowed during unloading operations when other than regular crew members are working on board.

ermen are requested to examine all spotted sea trout caught.

This tagging program is part of the work being done by the Laboratory for the Florida State Board of Conservation.

Shad

BIOLOGISTS DISCOVER SHAD PASS SAFELY THROUGH TURBINES OF CONOWINGO DAM: The preliminary phase of the 3-year Susquehanna fishery study is well under way, according to the Chairman of the Advisory Committee and Director of the Maryland Department of Research and Education, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, Solomons, Md. The project is designed to provide a sound biological basis for deciding whether or not passage should be provided for migratory fish at Conowingo Dam which is located near the confluence of the Susquehanna River and Chesapeake Bay in Maryland.

Shad planted in Conowingo Reservoir were able to pass successfully out of the impoundment and through the turbines of the dam, according to the five-man Advisory Committee which recently reviewed the work of biologists on the Susquehanna fishery study project during 1958.

A total of 2,983 shad were tagged, of which 2,086 were planted above the Conowingo Dam last spring to determine whether they would survive, spawn, and successfully negotiate the dam on their downstream migration. Tags received by biologists from fishermen who caught the fish below the dam amounted to 6 percent of the shad planted above the dam. The 83 fish that passed through the turbines confirmed earlier evidence that fish would

Standards

MEETINGS HELD ON PROPOSED HADDOCK AND HALIBUT STANDARDS: Halibut steaks and frozen haddock fillets are due to be added to those fishery products for which quality standards are promulgated, according to the present plans of the U. S. Bureau of Commercial Fisheries.

Laboratory research by the Bureau on the proposed standards has proceeded to a point that permitted preliminary discussions with interested segments of the fishing industry, distributors, and consumers. These discussions were held in four key cities.

Following the preliminary discussions, the next stop is the formal Notice of Proposed Rule Making. Such notice provides for a 30-day period to permit further consideration by the industry and others, after which the formal standards and the effective dates will be announced.

The meetings were held on the dates indicated in the following cities: Boston, frozen haddock fillets, October 7, 1958; New York City, frozen haddock fillets and halibut steaks, October 8; Chicago, frozen haddock fillets and halibut steaks, October 10; Seattle, frozen halibut steaks, October 15.

Promulgation of quality standards and maintenance of an inspection service are responsibilities transferred from the Department of Agriculture to the Department of the Interior on July 1, 1958. Previously standards had been developed by the Department of the Interior but promulgation of the standards and the inspection of fishery products had been the legal responsibility of the Department of Agriculture.

Standards which are already in effect apply to frozen fried fish sticks, frozen raw breaded shrimp, and frozen fish blocks, which are the raw material from which fish sticks are made. Fish sticks and shrimp which have been processed in accordance with these standards may be identified by the consumer as "Grade A" or "Grade B," both of which meet rigid standards of wholesomeness and workmanship and have been processed under sanitary conditions.

There are many fishery products for which standards have not yet been established. These can not be given a "grade" designation but if they have been processed under continuous inspection they are so marked.

Since this inspection service is something for which the processor must pay, he has the choice of marketing his product with or without the inspection symbol. "Lot inspection" is available should a processor desire only occasional inspection of his product. In such a case the package may bear the following statement: "This package is one of a lot from which samples have been inspected by the United States Department of the Interior."

Up to the present time, the Bureau reports, 16 large processing plants are operating under continuous inspection, requiring the services of 22 trained inspectors.

Transportation

PAPER STRIPS REVEAL TEMPERATURE CHANGES IN PERISHABLE PRODUCTS WHILE IN TRANSIT: Simple and inexpensive, heat-sensitive recorders show whether perishable products are subject to excessive temperature and how much. A Milwaukee yeast company is monitoring shipments with "paper thermometers" that travel with the products to give warning of harmful temperature fluctuations. But so far whether this will work with frozen products is not known.

Dispatchers and carriers of perishable products know that high shipping temperatures speed deterioration. And they generally take steps to minimize such hazards, even calling for special routing. But does your own control of product quality extend beyond the shipping dock?

Specifically, if your heat-sensitive goods were to be received in substandard condition, could you quickly tell whether they were inferior before shipment or were damaged by high temperature in transit?

The company using the "paper thermometers'' ships heatsensitive materials from one plant to another, from plant to customer, and from distribution points and sales areas to laboratories for examination and study. Before instituting the monitoring system, certain atypical variations were noted in goods arriving by rail, truck, and air carrier. Although improper conditions in transit were suspected, adequate evidence and proof were lacking.

As a result, an inexpensive thermal monitor called the "Thermonitor" was designed. It consists of three different

strips of specially-treated paper. The strips are glued to the back of a mimeographed, self-addressed postcard, which gives brief instructions for marking and mailing.

An additional alerting tab, in the form of a sleeve, bears the note: "Fill in This Card and Mail." This further serves to protect the paper thermometer against undue friction.

The company places a card in a single package or in several units of a large shipment. When goods reach their destination, consignee notes the strips' colors in the spaces provided on card, then returns it to sender or central laboratory for recording and filing.

During the past three years, this technique has revealed temperatures above 120 F. in several truck, parcel post, and express deliveries.

As would be expected, high temperatures in trucks usually occur during summer months. However, overheating in parcel post and express shipments can happen during any season. Here is how the paper strips indicate excessive shipping temperature:

Normally, they are pearl-gray in color, but turn black when exposed at or beyond their designated temperatures. They also tend to blacken under compression caused by friction and stamping, but this shading can readily be distinguished from the "melted' appearance of an overheated strip. (Food Engineering, August 1958.)