ABOUT TUNA BOATS:
CAUTION: Stay clear of commercial vessels that are actively fishing -- it's the law!
The international "rules of the road" mandate:
"All vessels not engaged in fishing shall ... when underway, keep out of the way of vessels engaged in fishing."
Because vessels actively fishing generally have gear in the water, their ability to maneuver or take evasive action is reduced; it is clearly reasonable to require other boats to stay clear.
In order to avoid active fishing vessels one must be able to (1) differentiate between types of fishing vessels, (2) have an idea about what kind of gear each vessel type is likely to use, and (3) understand how such vessels behave while actively fishing. Why? Because fishing gear beneath the surface cannot be easily seen; therefore it may not be immediately obvious whether a vessel is actively fishing or not. It is therefore essential to recognize what a fishing vessel is doing and what it is likely to do next -- and take appropriate action.
For example, a drift gillnetter deploys his gear in front of his boat, and one should therefore pass behind the boat to avoid his net. A trawler trails his gear behind him; therefore one should pass in front of his boat. And it's obvious from a quite a distance away that a slow-moving, circling vessel with outstretched outriggers is most likely trolling -- so stay well away from him!
ABOUT ALBACORE JIG BOATS:
Commercial fishing vessels that troll for albacore are called "jig boats" because they fish with jigs. Trolling means to catch fish by towing a lure or baited hook behind a slow-moving boat. In the albacore fishery, trollers attach ten to twenty fishing lines to each of the vessel's poles (also called outriggers; see Figure 1).
These fishing lines are of different lengths and are spread out along each pole to help prevent them from getting tangled up with each other. Attached to the end of each line is a jig -- a kind of rubbery fishing lure with a hook in it. Jigs are shaped to look like squid and come in a wide variety of colors.
The jigs are trailed in the water behind a moving boat, and some albacore will bite a squid-like jig and get hooked.
There is a cord running from each fishing line to the boat (see Figure 1). When a fish bites a lure and gets hooked, the fisherman grabs the cord -- called the "inhauler" -- to pull the fishing line to the boat. When the fishing line is within reach he then grabs it and begin hauling in the fish by hand.
Once the fish is to the boat, the fisherman swings the albacore out of the water, over the transom, and onto a slanted table with a large bolt near the top (see photo).
The hook is removed from the albacore's mouth by quickly twisting the end of the fishing line -- near the top of the jig -- around the bolt. This motion consequently twists the hook free from the fish.
The jig is then tossed back overboard and allowed to play back out while the fisherman scrambles to bleed and prepare the albacore for freezing.
Unlike some other tuna species, albacore do not usually swim with dolphins -- and for this reason there is not a dolphin-associated albacore fishery anywhere in the world. Furthermore, dolphins are not attracted to the jigs used by trollers. Consumers can also rest assured that all albacore on the U.S. markets meets the U.S. dolphin-safe labeling requirements -- and it's certified by the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Marine Fisheries Service Form-370 Certificates.
Though some fishermen may believe that fish prefer one color over another, it is more likely that jigs are colored for marketing reasons.
Albacore will bite an unbaited jig, but sometimes fishermen bait the hook to make it more attractive and tasty for the albacore. However, baiting hooks is not common practice.
There are also a couple of extra fishing lines trailing directly off the back of the boat; they're not attached to inhaulers because they are already within reach.
POLES: The vessel's poles, also called outriggers, stabilize the boat and also increase the work area of the boat. They are made of either wood or aluminum, and on albacore jig boats up to five fishing lines are deployed from each pole.
They are raised straight up into the air and secured to the crosstree when not in use. They must be easy to deploy because they are almost always used to help stabilize the boat in severe weather conditions such as heavy seas and storms. Poles are always made of lightweight material to avoid making the boat top-heavy, but unfortunately they do tend to break frequently and must be replaced regularly.
When one breaks, mayhem! The entire crew scrambles to get a line around the broken part and secure it. The remaining pole must be secured at the same time to prevent the vessel from laying over or even capsizing.
THE MASTHEAD LIGHT: A white light is at or near the masthead and must be turned on at night. On smaller vessels (less than 50 meters -- or 164.1 feet -- long) the light must shine in an unbroken arc from dead ahead to 22.5 degrees abaft (that is, behind and towards the stern) of the beam on both sides of the boat. A second masthead light is required for larger vessels (50 meters or greater), and the two masthead lights must be spaced at least one-fourth of the length of the vessel.
Visibility range requirements for masthead lights also vary according to the size of the vessel:
|
FEET: Less than 12 12 to 50 50 or more |
METERS: Less than 39.4 39.4 to 164 164 or more |
VISIBILITY RANGE: 2 miles 5 miles 6 miles |
There are some minor exceptions to these masthead requirements; for more information about the masthead and many other required lights, you can download a copy of the official navigation rules from the U.S. Coast Guard in this PDF file.
There are also many other lights required for vessels at sea -- including running lights, stern lights, and various other lights. The International Marine Educators website at boatsafe.com includes some animated tutorials to learn what different kinds of lights mean.
About the crosstree: In the old days the crosstree was sometimes used in place of the hangman's tree -- captains would occasionally use it to hang an unruly crewman! A more modern and practical use is using the crosstree (also called the yardarm) as a place to put antennas for your electronics; it's also convenient to stand on while fixing different parts of the rigging. The crosstree is made of durable material -- steel pipe, iron, thick-walled aluminum, or hardwood -- since it must be strong enough to support the weight of a person and whatever tools or equipment one might need while teetering around up in the rigging. There are also specially designed U-shaped fixtures on the ends of the crosstree for securing the vessel's poles in the upright position when not in use.
What's it like to stand on a crosstree? Well, since it's pretty high up there, one may find it helpful to avoid looking down. Also, since the boat's center of gravity is below decks, the natural motion of the seas is more pronounced "up-top." This means you probably wouldn't want to be there in bad weather, if at all.
In 1834 a man named Richard Henry Dana, Jr,. joined the crew of the trading brig Pilgrim and quickly learned that while it's sometimes necessary to climb up into the rigging in lousy weather, it certainly isn't much fun. He described his very first experience "on the yards" (the yardarm, or crosstree) in his book Two Years Before the Mast like this:
"The little brig was close-hauled upon the wind, and lying over, as it then seemed to me, nearly upon her beam ends. The heavy head sea was beating against her bows with the noise and force almost of a sledgehammer, and flying over the deck, drenching us completely through. The topsail halyards had been let go, and the great sails were filling out and backing against the masts with a noise like thunder; the wind was whistling through the rigging; loose ropes were flying about; loud and, to me, unintelligible orders constantly given, and rapidly executed; and the sailors 'singing out' at the ropes in their hoarse and peculiar strains.
"In addition to all this, I had not got my 'sea legs' on, was dreadfully seasick, with hardly strength enough to hold on to anything, and it was pitch dark. This was my condition when I was ordered aloft, for the first time, to reef topsails.
"How I got along, I cannot now remember. I 'laid out' on the yards and held on with all my strength. I could not have been of much service, for I remember having been sick several times before I left the topsail yard, making wild vomits into the black night, to leeward. Soon all was snug aloft, and we were again allowed to go below"
A radar system is used to avoid colliding with other vessels or objects, and for navigation at night or in poor visibility. Radar systems electronically broadcast brief pulses (anywhere from 600 to 4,000 per second) of super-high-frequency radio waves. These waves -- broadcast at the speed of light -- bounce off objects and reflect back to the radar unit to show the position, size, and distance of each object (relative to the vessel) on a screen. The basic components of a radar system are:
- The transmitter that generates the radio waves
- The antenna that radiates (sends out) the radio waves, and then receives any signals bounced off and reflected back from an object
- The receiver that amplifies any signals received by the antenna
- The indictator that shows the signal on screen as an object to watch out for
The radar range can be adjusted to suit the circumstances. For example, when traveling along the coast, by a harbor, or relatively close to an object at sea, one may set the unit to show everything within three miles. When out on the open ocean a far greater range -- showing objects 24 or more miles away -- would be more appropriate. The radar's range tends to be limited by the height of the antenna rather than by its power (i.e., the higher the antenna, the greater the range).
The waves reflect best off metal objects, so many wooden boats and other non-metal objects are equipped with something called a radar reflector to ensure they will be "seen."
About GPS: There are no road signs, highway markers, or landmarks out on the open ocean ... just water, and more water, for as far as you can see in all directions. It's not easy to figure out exactly where you are unless you know how to read the stars or have a GPS unit onboard.
GPS stands for "global positioning system." Originally developed by the U.S. Department of Defense, GPS uses signals from orbiting satellites to tell you exactly where you are. More specifically, a GPS receiver on a vessel finds signals from three or four satellites and automatically calculates time differences between the transmitted signals to determine position. GPS can calculate any position within roughly 15 meters (49 feet) accuracy anywhere on earth.
Most fishermen hook their GPS receiver to an electronic plotter that displays the vessel's position on a chart (map) of the ocean. They can also tell the plotter where they want to go, and the plotter then automatically plots the course from the current position to the desired destination. The vessel can even "drive itself" there if the plotter is hooked up to an autopilot.
GPS and a plotter can also tell you where an object or place is relative to your position. For example, if someone falls overboard, the captain will quickly punch a button on the plotter to log in the exact location of where that person was last seen. That place is called a "waypoint." He'll then turn the boat around to find and rescue the missing person. But boats do not turn on a dime and can be quickly pushed far away from the original location by the wind and waves -- especially in a storm. It is also very easy to become disoriented (particularly at night) and lose sight of the area where the missing person entered the water. Yet GPS and the plotter will help guide the captain to the waypoint.