National Water Safety Month: Lifesaving skills for Alaska’s fishing communities

Commercial fishing is one of the most dangerous jobs in the United States, with a fatality rate 23 times higher than the national average. Alaska’s salmon fisheries are among the most hazardous in the nation. Thanks to decades of increased focus on training, awareness and preparation, we are seeing progress: from 1990 to 2023, fatalities from traumatic injuries in Alaska’s fisheries dropped by 70 percent.

Alaska Sea Grant’s Marine Advisory Program has long played a role in this life-saving work. Across the state, our program provides marine and operational safety training to fishermen and crews, teaching skills that make a difference in preventing and surviving emergencies at sea.

Forty years ago, Marine Advisory Program agent Hank Pennington responded to the state’s high rates of accidents with a statewide push to enhance safety on commercial fishing vessels, leading to the formation of the Alaska Marine Safety and Education Association. Today, Alaska Sea Grant continues to support that mission by teaching AMSEA’s Drill Conductor course in several coastal communities.

In Kodiak, Alaska Sea Grant’s Julie Matweyou teaches AMSEA courses and also chairs the board of directors. In Cordova, AMSEA training is taught by fisheries workforce specialist John Williams, in Dillingham by agent Tav Ammu, and in Petersburg by agent Sunny Rice and Marine Advisory Program leader Gabe Dunham.

Additional training includes Mariners First Aid and CPR, crew training, and an introduction outboard engine maintenance and repair, which were recently offered in the Bristol Bay region and Southeast Alaska.

Rice and Dunham also led AK On-Board Crewmember Training last summer in Sitka. The traveling program teaches practical skills to new fishermen, including boat handling, knot tying, safety drills and seafood handling. The next AK On-Board Crewmember Training is in Kodiak in early June.

In a place where the weather can shift in an instant, the best defense is preparation. For National Water Safety Month—and every month of the year—Alaska Sea Grant remains committed to helping Alaska’s fishing communities stay safe, prepared and productive. Learn more about Alaska Sea Grant’s marine safety programs and resources, including videos and free downloads, on our website.