E-stop! Fish Tech.

I worked on the F/V Lake Bay, a purse seiner out of Seattle in 2007.  This system was recently installed on the boat’s deck winch and I found it to be a great idea.  However, I found myself hitting it on accident as I would move around the deck.  I never realized how many times I placed my hands on the top of the wench until this system was in place.  Overall, this is a great idea.  This image is of the Lake Bay.  The article below claims that its use is one the rise.  I would like to see it on more boats.

By LOUIS GARCIA

Mirror Writer

A new E-stop system can save fishermen from winch entanglement injuries.

Ted Teske of The National Institute talked about the system Thursday afternoon at ComFish for the National Institue Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

The system was created because every few years severe injuries or fatalities to fishermen are reported — injuries that could have been prevented.

“This stuff happens nationwide,” Teske said. “There have been over 800 severe, not fatal injuries among commercial fishermen from 1991 to 2002. Of those 25 percent were attributed to being entangled in line and gear.”

via KodiakDailyMirror.com :: Daily newspaper of Kodiak, Alaska.