The Coast Guard and the Alaska Marine Safety Education Association Partners in fishing vessel safety.

Excerpt from U.S. Coast Guard Proceedings of the Marine Safety & Security Council magazine by Mr. David Belliveau, U.S. Coast Guard Fishing Vessel Safety Division.

Fishing vessel casualties were on the rise in the 1980s and 1990s. So, the U.S. Coast Guard concluded that in conjunction with writing and implementing new regulations, implementing an aggressive fishing vessel safety training program would help reduce fatalities.

The Coast Guard sought assistance from other organizations to provide products and services to enhance the training infrastructure for commercial fishermen in Alaska and throughout the U.S. In 2001, USCG awarded a contract to the Alaska Marine Safety Education Association (AMSEA).

AMSEA focused its training on practical information delivered in a hands-on format. The initial training focused on cold water safety and survivability and was presented to school children, commercial fishermen, and the general boating public in remote areas of Alaska.

Its courses have expanded and now include training for:

fishing vessel drill conductors,

fishing vessel marine safety instructors,

fishing vessel crew survivability,

fishing vessel stability awareness,

fishing vessel examiners,

fishing vessel inspection techniques.

To date AMSEA has trained approximately 9,500 fishing vessel drill conductors, more than 1,000 vessel marine safety instructor trainers, 114,300 school children, and 55,000 members of the general public.

Full article is available at http://www.uscg.mil/proceedings/winter2010-11/

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