Commercial Fishing Boats

Buying and Selling Commercial Fishing Vessels

Buying and selling commercial fishing boats is an essential part of business for people in the commercial fishing and seafood industries.

Some fishermen will choose a new boat, while others may try to find a boat that is already outfitted and ready to fish.

A third option is to find a solid hull that can be repowered and refitted for the current fishery.

Commercial Fishing Boat Surveys

When buying pre-owned boats, it is important to do a thorough inspection, have the boat surveyed by a reputable marine surveyer, and check the boat's history and log books.

Was the vessel been maintained properly? Has any warranty work been done? Were there any previous insurance claims on the vessel?

These are all questions that can make a big difference in the value of a commercial fishing vessel.

What if I want to build a boat to sell in the USA?

Several regulations apply when building a custom commercial fishing boat for sale in the USA.

Potential boat builders can obtain a package of information through the mail from the United States Coast Guard. The information packet covers regulations and other requirements, such as how to get a manufacturers identification code (MIC). To obtain the package you can write to:

Commandant (CG/54223)

U.S. Coast Guard
Room 3100
Washington, DC 20593-0001

Deadrise Boats



In many parts of the USA and Canada these are popular commercial fishing boats. Deadrise boats have very little V or deadrise at the stern, but the amount of deadrise tapers to a very sharp entry point. Deadrise boats may have a cabin or be open and there are many variations of stern shapes, bow flare, engine configurations, cabin layouts and other features.

Lobster Boats



These popular boats are easy to spot. They feature rounded bottoms at the stern, and a sharply rising bow, usually with a cabin located forward. Lobster boats are often powered with small diesel engines which make them extremely efficient.

Flat Bottomed Skiffs

These boats have been used for centuries on one form or another, but in the 1990's, Carolina Skiff introduced their line of flat bottomed, rolled edge fiberglass skiffs. These boats were inexpensive, sturdy, required little horsepower and had capacity to carry a LOT of weight. The commercial fishing industry was quick to realize the potential of flat bottom skiffs and within a short time almost every commercial fishing harbor in the USA contained some of these able boats.

Flat bottom skiffs come in a variety of sizes and configurations, with the most popular setups having a small console or pilothouse. Several boat builders now offer these boats, in sizes from 12-24 feet.

Pangas
Pangas are used in many parts of the world. They are long sleek and narrow open boats, best used for small payloads in sheltered areas.

Chesapeake Bay Skipjacks



Chesapeake Bay Skipjacks became common in the late 1800's. These single masted sailing vessels were relatively inexpensive to build, and their shallow draft enabled them to dredge oysters closer in to shore. Chesapeake Bay Skipjacks were often built by watermen in their backyards.

Chesapeake Bay Buyboats



Buyboats were common on the Chesapeake Bay in the 19th century. Their purpose was to purchase oysters directly from sailing workboats in Chesapeake Bay on fishing grounds and then carry the oysters to market to sell for a profit in ports such as Baltimore and Annapolis. This saved the oyster fleet a long sail to market.

Trawlers

These boats come in many sizes, shapes, displacements, hull types and configurations.

Trawlers may be specialized or be flexible in their designs, and some boats are equipped to easily remove the trawl gear and switch to different payloads.

Bulbous Bows

One modern addition to many steel trawlers and other displacement hull boats is a bulbous bow. The purpose of a bulbous bow is to change the nature of this bow wave to reduce the drag it induces on the hull.

Displacement hulls push water aside as they move. The water that is pushed aside forms a wave that begins near the bow. The length of this wave is proportional to the speed of the hull through the water-the faster the hull moves, the longer the bow wave.

At some speed, the length of the bow wave increases to the point that it matches the length of the hull, and the hull operates in the trough of the wave, with a peak near the bow and another peak near the stern. This speed is called the "hull speed" and it is approximately 1.34 times the square root of the waterline length of the hull.

The bulbous bow creates it's own wave that is farther forward and "out of phase" with the natural bow wave created by the hull, effectively subtracting from the normal bow wave and reducing it's drag-inducing effect.

A bow bulb can be optimized for a specific speed (or a small range of speeds). A bow bulb providing the greatest potential for reduced fuel consumption is generally designed at a given speed.

On March 21, 2008 the Bush Administration approved an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) as part of a regulatory effort to develop amendments to United States Coast Guard commercial fishing industry vessel regulations. The ANPRM will be published in the Federal Register. The ANPRM announces the Coast Guard's intention to solicit feedback from the commercial fishing industry prior to developing additional regulations.

The proposed changes would enhance maritime safety by adding new requirements for vessel stability and watertight integrity, stability training and assessments, vessel maintenance and self-examinations, immersion suits, crew preparedness, safety training, emergency preparation, safety and training personnel, safety equipment, and documentation. Miscellaneous conforming, clarifying, and other administrative changes are also contemplated. Comments and related material must reach the Docket Management Facility on or before July 29, 2008.

More information:

An article on U.S. Commercial Fishing Regulations.

http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/E8-6477.htm

http://www.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/fr-cont.html

Commercial fishing is the United States' deadliest occupation, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. Fishermen recorded the highest occupational fatality rate of 111.8 per 100,000 workers in 2007. There were 39 commercial fishing and hunting deaths in 2007, down from 51 deaths in 2006.

Operators of domestic fishing vessels with a freeboard of four feet or more are required to provide a U.S. Coast Guard-approved pilot ladder for authorized personnel to board fishing vessels in carrying out their duties under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act, and other applicable fisheries laws and treaties. This action is necessary to provide for the safety of personnel boarding domestic fishing vessels, as current standards have proven to be inadequate. These final regulations establish a safer and more enforceable national standard for ladders used by authorized officers for boarding domestic fishing vessels subject to Federal regulation. The effective date of this requirement is January 1, 2009. For more information, contact William Chappell at (301) 713-2337.

source: NOAA Fish News

Commercial fishing boat enthusiasts will enjoy these commercial fishing and seafood calendars.

~ Wear your life jacket! 85 percent of boaters who drown were not wearing life jackets. In an emergency there may not be enough time to put one on, so wearing one at all times may save your life.

~ Make sure a friend or relative knows your float plan. A float plan states where you are going and how many people are aboard your boat, as well as destination and arrival plans. For more information on float plans, click here.

~ Make certain to check the local weather prior to departing the dock.

~ Have nautical charts for the area you're boating in, a global positioning device and a reliable means of communication aboard your vessel. A VHF-radio is the best method of communicating while on the water. Although cell phones are a good backup, they can be unreliable due to gaps in coverage area.

~ Mariners may obtain a free vessel safety check, which can be conducted by the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, before heading out to the water. Vessel safety checks are courtesy, penalty-free examinations, which verify the presence and condition of certain safety equipment required by state and federal regulations.

On December 18, 2008, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a new National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) general permit to regulate 26 types of discharges from vessels operating in US waters. Approximately 61,000 domestically flagged commercial vessels and 8,000 foreign flagged vessels will need to comply with the permit starting 6 February 2009.

As a result of a court ruling, vessel owners and operators who have previously been exempt from Clean Water Act requirements for the last 35 years would have been required to obtain a permit as of 19 December 2008. The court subsequently extended the deadline to 6 February 2009.

The permit covers non-recreational vessels 79 feet in length or longer, such as cruise ships or oil and cargo tankers, but excludes fishing vessels of any length, unless they discharge ballast water. The new permit incorporates the Coast Guard's mandatory ballast water management and exchange standards, and provides technology-based and water-quality-based effluent limits for other types of discharges, including deck runoff from rain or cleaning, ballast water used to stabilize ships and "gray water" from showers, sinks and laundry machines. It also establishes specific corrective actions, inspections and monitoring, record keeping and reporting requirements.

Earlier in the year, Congress responded to the court ruling in part by enacting a law to exempt recreational and fishing vessels from the permitting requirement and requiring further analysis and action by EPA and the Coast Guard. For more information about the permits go to www.epa.gov/npdes/vessels.

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