Letter to USCG Expressing Concerns with Onboard Mask Requirements

See 3/26 Update with Changes from USCG & CDC: HERE

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued the order, Requirement for Persons to Wear Masks while on Transportation Hubs, 29JAN2021, which requires all persons traveling on all commercial vessels to wear a mask at all times. BBRSDA submitted the comment shown below to the US Coast Guard and made Congressional representatives from AK and WA aware of our deep concerns.

Dear Richard V. Timme, RDML, U.S. Coast Guard - Assistant Commandant for Prevention Policy (CG-5P),

The Bristol Bay commercial fishing fleet came together with local governments and seafood companies to ensure a safe fishing season for the local people and the thousands who traveled to Bristol Bay for the fishing season in 2020. It is of utmost importance to ensure another safe season in 2021 and many measures will be taken, however, wearing a mask at all times while onboard a commercial fishing vessel, especially the small size of a Bristol Bay drift boat is not only an unrealistic means of preventing transmission of the virus, but it is also very dangerous. 

 Bristol Bay drift gillnet boats are 32 feet long and less than one-third of that is living space. Four people sleep, cook, and eat in an area the size of a bathroom in an average U.S. home. Most importantly, fishing boats are loud and communication while working on deck is critical for safety. Under normal conditions, it is difficult to hear. If fishermen are wearing masks, the reduced volume and lack of visual cues will prevent vital communication from happening and could result in serious injury or death.

 While the true tragedy will be the victims of such incidents, those responsible for this mask requirement will have to deal with the PR and moral consequences of their role in creating unsafe work conditions. 

 Some of the measures BBRSDA took in 2020 to prevent the spread of covid and the stress on the rural medical system include: providing discounted medevac insurance to fishermen, providing quarantine flags for each vessel, providing buffs for fishermen to wear as masks, developing the Bristol Bay fishermen’s handbook including all the mandatory travel and quarantine requirements, health screening and more. While there were a few dozen cases confined to seafood processing plants, we are proud that no fishermen or local residents were hospitalized as a result of COVID-19 spreading during the fishing season, and the Bay turned in another large wild salmon harvest. As local and national COVID-19 guidelines impacting the Bristol Bay fishery evolve, BBRSDA will be working hard to assist the fleet through another safe fishing season. 

USCG Marine Safety Information Bulletin: Covid-19 Safety Requirments in the Marine Transportation System

Read the full language of the requirement: LINK

Questions concerning this notice may be forwarded to Coast Guard Office of Commercial Vessel Compliance, at wearamask@uscg.mil