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These accidental activations trigger unnecessary Coast Guard responses that cost the agency and taxpayers money, and they can create real inconveniences for vessel owners.<\/p>\nby Ann Backus \u2013<\/b><\/p>\n
Whether you fish commercially for lobsters, scallops, groundfish, or other species, you probably own an Electronic Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB).\u00a0 These instruments are vital for helping the Coast Guard locate you and\/or your vessel in times of distress.\u00a0 Both vessel and personal EPIRBs are now available at a reasonable cost.<\/p>\n
For all their benefits, EPIRBs still present some problems for the Coast Guard and vessel owners.\u00a0 Along with its database of marine casualties, Coast Guard District 1, which covers New England, keeps track of its responses to \u201caccidental,\u201d as opposed to distress, EPIRB activations.<\/p>\n
These accidental activations trigger unnecessary Coast Guard responses that cost the agency and taxpayers money, and they can create real inconveniences for vessel owners.<\/p>\n
In this article, we will look at some of the issues related to accidental EPIRB activations for the years 2010, 2011, and 2012.<\/p>\n
The good news is that the number of accidental and \u201ccause unknown\u201d activations decreased from 54 in 2010 to 35 in 2011, and to 22 in 2012.<\/p>\n
Of the 54 accidental activations in 2010, 20 were in Massachusetts fishing areas and 12 were in Maine fishing areas.\u00a0 The lobster fishery led the pack with 17 activations.\u00a0 The groundfish fishery had seven, while scallopers logged four.\u00a0 Nearly half \u2013 25 \u2013 were attributed to other fisheries or listed as \u201cfishery unknown\u201d or fishery \u201cnot recorded.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2011, the Coast Guard again responded to accidental EPIRB activations mainly in Massachusetts and Maine fishing areas, with 13 and 11 responses respectively.\u00a0 The distribution of accidental activations among fisheries was:\u00a0 lobster, 12; groundfish, eight; scallops, three; and unknown fisheries, 12.<\/p>\n
In 2012, of the 22 nondistress activations logged, eight were in Maine fishing areas and four were in Massachusetts fishing areas.\u00a0 Again, the lobster fishery led with seven, followed by groundfish, four, and other fisheries, 11.\u00a0 No accidental scallop vessel EPRIB activations were recorded.<\/p>\n
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Triggers<\/b><\/p>\n
During these three years, the Coast Guard used slightly different approaches to logging the causes of the accidental activations, so the data aren\u2019t exactly comparable from year to year.\u00a0 Nonetheless, there are lessons to be learned from this portion of the database.<\/p>\n
In 2010, the most frequent cause was listed as \u201cactivated by the captain,\u201d a total of eight of them.\u00a0 There was a tie for the second most-frequent cause of activation between \u201ctesting\u201d and during \u201cexam\/being serviced\u201d with five each.\u00a0 There also was a tie for third place between \u201cthrown away\u201d and \u201cfell overboard\u201d with three each.<\/p>\n
In 2011, the most frequent causes were \u201ctesting\u201d at two and \u201cfaulty instrument,\u201d also at two.\u00a0 The second most-frequent causes were tied at one each and listed as \u201cvandalized,\u201d \u201cduring wash down,\u201d \u201chit by gear,\u201d and \u201cbad weather.\u201d\u00a0 No causes were listed for the other 27 activations.<\/p>\n
For 2012, there were three accidental activations presumably triggered by fishermen\/captains, and then a list of seven activations, each occurring once, the reasons for which included \u201cchanging the battery, testing, faulty bracket, fell overboard, sold, wave, and thrown in the trash.\u201d<\/p>\n
When taken as a whole, these accidental activations seemed to have happened because of human error during testing, servicing, changing the battery, a dockside exam, or unintentionally getting the unit wet.\u00a0 Some activations happened when bad weather or waves set them off, the bracket did not hold, or the unit was faulty.<\/p>\n
A third type of accidental activation was related to the fact that EPIRBs are required to be registered with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.\u00a0 When a vessel is sold with the EPIRB intact, the unit must be reregistered to the new owner.\u00a0 Several of the comments in the Coast Guard accidental activation database under \u201ccause unknown\u201d indicated that the current vessel owner was not known.<\/p>\n
When a vessel is scrapped, the EPIRB should be removed and deregistered until reregistered with a new vessel.\u00a0 Lastly, an EPIRB should be deregistered before it is thrown away.<\/p>\n
Accidental activations are largely preventable, and curtailing them could save everyone a lot of time and money.\u00a0 Accurate registration by current owners also could reduce inconveniences to former EPIRB owners.<\/p>\n
Additionally, there is an opportunity for fishing vessel safety instructors to help avoid these problems by emphasizing proper handling of EPIRBs as part of their safety courses.\u00a0 n<\/p>\n
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Ann Backus, MS, is the director of outreach for the Harvard School of Public Health\u2019s Department of Environmental Health in Boston, MA.\u00a0 She may be reached by phone at (617) 432-3327 or by e-mail at <abackus@hsph.harvard.edu>.<\/i><\/p>\n
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