Pot fishing is used
to catch rock lobsters and blue cod in New Zealand.
Hazards and safety procedures unique to pot
fishing operations are shown below:
Preparation:
- Pot fishing involves a considerable amount of lifting by the crew:
- Always stretch your muscles before starting work.
- Always be conscious of lifting methods. Use your legs not your back
- Wear back and knee supports if you need these.
- Keep the load close to your body.
- Crew need protection against cuts and nips from the lobsters. Wear long
sleeves and tuck the sleeves into your gloves.
- Make sure you wear tight fitting gloves.
- Clean cuts and abrasions continually with clean fresh, or salt water. This helps to prevent Erysipelothrix or Cray
Poisoning.
Retrieving:
- Make sure that there is constant and clear communication between the
wheelhouse and the person in the deck launching position.
- Launch and retrieve pots at a safe pace.
- When retrieving pots, keep a close eye on the grapnel line in case it
“pings off”. Keep out of its way as much as practical.
- When you use a boom and block to lift pots, be careful to “arrest” the strain
on the line before transferring the line from the hauler.
- Keep your fingers away from the hauler drum.
- Work with pots up off deck level as much as possible.
- Stow pots at a safe height for your vessel. Be aware of how the weight of the pots might
affect the stability of your vessel.
- As each pot is set, or retrieved, the lines must be safely stowed to
minimise the risk of entanglement.
Setting:
- Unload post evenly. Start from the
unloading side and work evenly across the vessel.
- When setting pots make sure the line is free to go overboard without
getting caught.
- If two crew are setting, the crew member releasing the pot should be
close to the crew member throwing the line.
- Crew should have a “rope cutter” tied to them, so that if they did get
caught in a setting line they would be able to free themselves underwater.
- A vessel should never be overloaded. What is more expensive: - an
extra trip to the fishing grounds or a new boat?
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Version 1.0. Last updated 27 June 2006.