Crab fleet gets Coast Guard safety checks

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The Coast Guard is conducting safety spot checks for the Oregon crab fishing fleet to prepare for the opening of the commercial Dungeness crab season. Coast Guard examiners will check vessels for watertight integrity, primary lifesaving equipment and review pot loading practices on vessels while in port. The spot checks include looking over survival suits, emergency radio beacons and life rafts. Similar safety checks in previous years found that between a quarter and a third of emergency radio beacons and life rafts are installed improperly. But officials say most of those deficiencies are easy to correct. The Coast Guard says crabbing vessels operate in hazardous waters during some of the worst winter weather with one of the highest fatality rates of any West Coast fishery. ©2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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