# Commercial Fishing Safety Training

> **NIH ALLCDC T03** · ALASKA MARINE SAFETY EDUCATION ASSN · 2022 · $99,352

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY J. DZUGAN
This project will continue the delivery of Coast Guard required training for commercial fishermen to reduce the
loss of life due to falls overboard and vessel loss. This project is very relevant to public health in the workplace.
Commercial fishing is usually ranked the first or second highest risk occupation. The Coast Guard requires
monthly emergency drills on most commercial fishing vessels that work offshore. These drills cover the
prevention and emergency response of crew during the emergencies of fall overboard, flooding, fire and
abandon ship. These emergencies caused the majority of deaths from 2000-2015 and over the last three
decades. The drills must be conducted by a formally trained Emergency Drill Conductor (EDC). As the only
provider of Coast Guard Accepted EDC training in Alaska, we intend to use our vast experience and extensive
partnerships in the industry and in rural ports of Alaska to continue the availability of this performance based,
hands on training to a new generation of fishermen.
In this project, we will continue to hold our Coast Guard Accepted Marine Safety Instructor-Training (MSIT)
workshops, to train new port based instructors to deliver EDC training to fishermen in their own or nearby
fishing ports
Having port based instructors eliminates the need to travel to distant rural ports- a difficulty in these times.
Alaska led the nation in fishing fatalities 30 years ago with 30 to 40 fatalities a year- a major public health and
safety issue. However, in part through the past training of fishermen in EDC and other safety courses, Alaska
now has the third lowest number of fatalities out of the four main regions of the nation. Average yearly fatalities
in the last 10 years are in single digits. Over 277 fishermen have survived an emergency at sea who have had
training in our past projects.
This project will also address the main cause of injury in Alaska fisheries, which are chronic Muscular-Skeletal
Disorders (MSDs) of the upper extremities. These injuries have been the leading cause of insurance claims
according to data from the Alaska Fishermen’s Fund, a long established state run insurance pool. We have
experience with delivering in-person ergonomics training to thousands of fish workers. However, we intend to
transfer our commercial fishing training to an on-line optional format, due to present and future travel
restrictions and costs.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10458437
- **Project number:** 5T03OH008631-18
- **Recipient organization:** ALASKA MARINE SAFETY EDUCATION ASSN
- **Principal Investigator:** JERRY DZUGAN
- **Activity code:** T03 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** ALLCDC
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $99,352
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-07-01 → 2026-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10458437

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10458437, Commercial Fishing Safety Training (5T03OH008631-18). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10458437. Licensed CC0.

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