Last weekend, two New Hampshire fishermen who also star on National Geographic’s “Wicked Tuna” helped to rescue the two-man crew of the Miss Sambuca off of Gloucester, Mass.
Read more about the captains of "Wicked Tuna" in our March 2014 issue.When Tyler McLaughlin, skipper of the Pin Wheel, and his first mate Stephen Field arrived on the scene, one of the crew members of the sinking boat was still onboard trying unsuccessfully to inflate a life raft. The other fisherman was already in the water. His survival suit was taking on water, and he had broken his sternum.
I have said many times that whether or not you like fishing reality shows, they draw attention to the dangers of the profession, as well as the reality of the way wild fish gets from the sea to the shore. While entertaining (and sometimes in a way that makes other fishermen roll their eyes), they also educate the mainstream viewer.
For the average person, these incidents are eye-opening and hopefully help them see fishermen and the seafood on their plate with different eyes.
I will never forget the first man-overboard scene I witnessed from the warm comfort of my living room couch. It was the third season of the “Deadliest Catch.” The crew of the Time Bandit helped to pull aboard a crew member from another boat. In the Bering Sea, survival times are frighteningly short, but hypothermia is a risk for every U.S. fisherman.
If you follow fishing news with any regularity, you know at-sea rescues are not uncommon. Time spent in the water often means the difference between death and survival. Today there was a press conference at 10 a.m. in Portland, Ore., to oppose the loss of Newport’s Coast Guard search and rescue helicopter.
The town of Newport got the emergency helicopter after the 1985 capsizing of the F/V Lasseigne in which three fishermen died of hypothermia in less time than it would take a rescue crew coming from the next available Coast Guard station to reach the fishing area. Let’s hope it doesn’t take another tragedy to bring back Newport’s rescue helo. Not every fisherman is as lucky as were the crew members of the Miss Sambuca to have a good Samaritan vessel within range to come to their aid.
