The Deadliest, uh, make that The Dullest Catch

To read about my adventures on the Western Pacific, click the “Installments” link right here or under the Categories sidebar to the right. They appear in reverse order, so start with Installment #1 and work your way up through #4. Installment number Five, “Tarawa”, will be appearing soon.

Enquiring minds want to know:

If it were mandatory that the owners of the US Flagged “distant waters” fishing fleet had to seek American crew before hiring foreigners, would you apply?

H.R. 3619: COAST GUARD AUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2010

• Summary: Maritime Safety Act of 2009 – Regulates vessel size limits, the rebuilding or replacing of vessels, fishery management in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area or the Gulf of Alaska, maritime safety, oil fuel tank protection, merchant mariners’ documents, vessel staffing requirements, and the Navigation Safety Advisory Council.
• Status: Passed House, 11/22/09
• Title VIII: Marine Safety: includes dockside inspections (http://dougpine.com/2009/11/22/hr-3619-addresses-fishing-vessel-safety-by-requiring-dockside-inspections/).
• Related Senate Bill: S. 1124 (Sponsor: Maria Cantwell)
  • Authorizes the commandant of the Coast Guard to make grants to, or enter into cooperative agreements, contracts, or other agreements with, international maritime organizations to acquire information or data about merchant vessel inspections, security, safety and environmental requirements, classification, and port state or flag state law enforcement or oversight.
• Amendment to Sec. 8103 of Title 46:
  • SEC. 1314. OFFICER REQUIREMENTS FOR DISTANT WATER TUNA VESSELS. Section 8103 of title 46, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the follow new subsection: (l) Officer Requirements for Distant Water Tuna Vessels-

(1) CITIZENSHIP- Notwithstanding subsection (a), a purse seine tuna fishing vessel documented under chapter 121 fishing exclusively for highly migratory species under a fishing license issued pursuant to the 1987 Treaty on Fisheries Between the Governments of Certain Pacific Islands States and the Government of the United States of America in the treaty area (as that term is used in that treaty), or transiting to or from the treaty area exclusively for such purpose, may engage an individual who is not a citizen of the United States to fill a vacancy in a position referred to in subsection (a) (except for the master) if, after timely public notice of the vacancy, no United States citizens are readily available to fill the vacancy.

(2) RESTRICTIONS-

(A) IN GENERAL- An individual may not be engaged under paragraph (1) unless the individual holds a valid license or certificate issued–

(i) in accordance with the standards established by the 1995 amendments to the Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978 (STCW 95); and

(ii) by an authority that the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating recognizes as imposing competency and training standards equivalent to or exceeding those required for a issued under chapter 71.

(B) LIMITATION ON APPLICATION- Paragraph (1) applies only to engagement of an individual on a vessel that–

(i) is homeported in American Samoa, Guam, or the Northern Mariana Islands; and

(ii) has passed an annual commercial fishing vessel safety exam administered by a individual authorized to enforce this title.

(3) TREATMENT OF EQUIVALENT LICENSE- The Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating shall treat a license held by an individual engaged under paragraph (1) that was issued by a foreign government as meeting the requirements of section 8304 with respect to that engagement, if the Secretary determines that the standards for issuing that license are equivalent to the standards that apply under that section.’.

(http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:SN01194:@@@D&summ2=m&)