The Boats & Gear blog is overseen by our Boats & Gear editor, Michael Crowley. It explores new construction projects, electronics, gear and equipment for the commercial fishing industry.
Wednesday, 24 August 2011
If you have wanted to build a boat and have the money stashed away or there’s a group of willing investors, now would be a smart time to build that boat. Smart because if you wait until after July 1, 2012, the same boat — as long as it is 50 feet or longer — will cost a lot more money.
How much more isn’t clear, but estimates run from about 15 to 40 percent.
There are two drivers to the cost increase and both are written into the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010. The intent of the act is to make commercial fishing safer.
One requires boats 79 feet and longer built after July 1, 2012, to meet new load-line standards. The second requires classification for boats 50 feet and over that operate beyond three miles and are built after July 1, 2012.
Some of the increased cost is the result of bringing more people into the process. What would currently be a discussion between you, the designer and the boatyard would also involve a classification society. This also drags out the time it takes to design a boat.
Further, every few years the boat will have to be hauled and surveyed. Some surveys will be more extensive than others. You will pay for the survey and cover the travel and work-time costs of the classification society’s representative.
Currently, no classification society — or any other group — has come out with a fully developed list of guidelines for classing a commercial fishing boat or building one to load-line standards. Though DNV has developed a preliminary 130-page book of best construction and design practices. ABS seems to be sitting on its hands and doing little or nothing.
Regional standards would be appropriate to the risks posed to the boats in a particularly dangerous fishery. The basis of the standards might be based on the best designing and building practices in a fleet.
Unfortunately, to date the impetus for the load-line and classing sections of the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010 have been driven by politicians. The fishing industry — be it fishermen, naval architects or boatbuilders — has not been a part of the process.
It’s not too late for the industry to get involved. Contact the Coast Guard and classification societies, especially DNV. In November, Seattle’s Pacific Marine Expo will have seminars focusing on these issues. That would be a good time for fishermen and boatbuilders to make their concerns known. Not to do so will just make the final requirements much more onerous than they already are.
In the meantime, pick up the October 2011 issue of National Fisherman for more information.
Callifornia crabbing: Here's a fun video shot on the decks of the Majestik while catching Dungeness crab off the coast of northern California.
Over 500 lots of seafood processing equipment formerly owned by Adak Seafood will be sold at auction on Tuesday, June 18, starting at 10 a.m. Hawaiian-Aleutian Daylight Time at the Hilton Garden Inn in Anchorage Alaska.
The equipment is located in a recently updated 250,000 square foot state-of-the-art processing facility in Adak, Alaska. Farmington Hills, Mich.-based Hilco Industrial, which conducts 75 machinery and equipment auctions in a wide range of industries annually, will conduct the auction.
Adak Seafood opened originally as Ada Fisheries in Anchorage in 1986. The facility, updated in 2005, is located on the island of Adak, the southernmost city in Alaska near the western end of the Aleutian Islands. The facility processed cod primarily, as well as halibut, blackcod, crab and pollock, Hilco says.
Alaska fisherman and commercial fisheries activist Kevin Adams was elected chairman at the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute board of directors meeting on May 9 in Anchorage.
The governor-appointed board consists of seven members: five seafood processors and two industry representatives actively engaged in commercial fishing. Adams was appointed to fill a harvester seat by Gov. Frank Murkowski in 2004.
With 38 years of fishing experience in Bristol Bay, Adams has long been an active member in the Alaska fishing industry, ASMI says. He has worked for both the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation and the Bering Sea Fisherman's Association, and represents Alaska fishermen on numerous boards.
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