Enter or leave Noyo Harbor and a U.S Coast Guard camera on the jetty beneath the Noyo River Bridge will be watching.
The camera, which can see from Silver”s Restaurant all the way to the large buoy visible offshore (usually occupied by gulls and sea lions), is turned on 24 hours a day with someone from the Coast Guard Station always on duty and observing.
The camera was just one of the features discussed at a Saturday event hosted by Noyo Women for Fisheries, in an effort to allow the community to see inside the local fishing industry.
Coast Guard personnel answered questions, from how things have changed since the agency was put into the Homeland Security federal agency to how rescues are performed.
Most of the questions at Saturday”s event were for commercial fisherman Brian Jourdain, who gave a lengthy presentation of how crab fishing is accomplished, along with its risks and thrills.
“Fishing boat owners are basically just small businesspeople in our community, ones that have to work all the time, “Jourdain said. He explained the unpredictable and cyclical nature of the crab season, off season boat work and the roles of the crew.
In the last year and a half, the Coast Guard station has undergone a major remodel, giving it habitable barracks, a new hall and a big ocean information sign that is very popular with commercial and sport fishers.
In digital letters nearly a foot high, the sign gives the latest ocean conditions. It is visible from a boat in Noyo River or by parking at the bottom of North Harbor Drive and walking to the water”s edge at the Noyo Fishing Center.
“Before the sign was put in, a lot of fishermen would just go out and see the weather,” said Printha Worthen of Noyo Women for Fisheries. “This is very helpful and increases safety.”
Worthen used to fish commercially and has two sons now involved in the trade.
She said the new camera allows the Coast Guard to know just when a fishing boat is leaving the harbor, which can help if there is a problem later, and it eliminates the need to call in departure time.
The Coast Guard was combined into Homeland Security as part of efforts to make the nation”s harbors more secure from outside threats like terrorism. But so far the primary benefit has been to increase general safety, locals heard.
The bar crossing adjacent to the jetty can be very dangerous to navigate and is a prime reason why the harbor is not available to passenger service and larger vessels.
The Noyo River Coast Guard Station is staffed by 26 personnel, a number which includes four women. It is a training station and most people stay about two years. Seaman Amy Kearnes, whose Southern accent betrayed her Virginia home, has enjoyed duty at the remote Noyo Station, hoping to build a career in law enforcement.
Kearnes described during the open house how when she was on watch she saw several obviously inexperienced kayakers headed out toward the jetty during a day when seas were high. The Coast Guard was able to give the group a safety warning.
“The camera is very helpful in keeping an eye on the Coast Guard vessels,” she said. “When it wasn”t turned on at one point, I got really worried because I couldn”t see our guys going out.”
Crab fishing is ranked as one of the world”s most dangerous occupations because of seasonal high seas and the work involved in hauling pots in. The dozen people on hand at the station on Saturday heard the Coast Guard once again employed “Operation Safe Crab” this year, which included spot safety checks and is credited with helping reduce fatalities.
All over the Pacific Northwest, Coast Guard examiners have been spot-checking lifesaving equipment and pot loading practices on vessels while in port. These spot checks of freeboard, (distance from the waterline to the deck) watertight integrity, survival suits, Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs), and liferafts are meant to ensure that these critical safety items are ready for use should an at-sea emergency occur, a Coast Guard press release states.
“Commercial Dungeness crabbing vessels operate in some of the winter”s worst weather in hazardous waters and have the highest fatality rate of any West Coast fishery,” the press release states.
