Date of incident: September 2019
Notice of incident number: 2019155610008
Employer: Commercial fisherman

Incident summary
While fishing for salmon, a commercial fisherman picking salmon from his net became entangled in the net and was pulled over the stern of his fishing vessel into the water. Another fisherman on a nearby vessel witnessed the fisherman go overboard, but could not get to him in time to rescue him. The fisherman was recovered approximately 15 minutes after he was last seen tangled in the net. The fisherman succumbed to drowning.

Cause

• Fisherman’s hand caught in gillnet, pulling him overboard. While resetting the gillnet over the stern of the vessel, the fisherman’s hand was caught in the net, which caused him to be pulled overboard. The fisherman became entangled in the underside of the net while in the water. The vessel was in gear at the time, and came back around on itself, then caught the net in its propeller, pulling the net and the fisherman downward. The fisherman was unable to free himself and drowned.

Contributing factors

• Lack of immediate assistance. At the time of the incident, no one except the fisherman was on the vessel. With no one available, several counter­measures were not taken. Without the assistance of a deckhand, no one was directly available to free the fisherman’s hand, put the vessel in neutral, stop the drum, return the drum, or pull the fisherman from the water.
• Inability to reach vessel controls. The vessel had been modified with the addition of a spooler to help the net spool back onto the drum. This change had made it necessary to move the vessel’s rear controls amidships, away from the stern. As a result, the fisherman could not reach the vessel controls once his hand was caught, so he was pulled over the stern and power roller of the vessel.
• Lifejacket not worn. The fisherman was not wearing a lifejacket when his hand became caught in the net and he was pulled overboard. He became entangled on the underside of the net and was at the water’s surface for a short time before becoming submerged. If the fisherman had had a lifejacket on, he might have remained at the surface long enough for the other fisherman to reach him and rescue him.

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