Commercial fishing is among the most physically punishing work in the maritime industry. The equipment is heavy, the decks stay wet, and the machinery runs whether or not everyone aboard is fully rested. When a flounder fishing accident happens, the consequences can follow workers home for months or years.
Hofmann & Schweitzer has spent decades representing commercial fishermen who were injured aboard trawlers and draggers. If you were hurt on a commercial fishing vessel, you may have legal options, and we encourage you to contact an experienced maritime injury lawyer to learn more.
What Makes Flounder Fishing So Dangerous?
Flounder and fluke are bottom-dwelling fish, so commercial harvest often uses gear designed to work near the seafloor. Workers aboard these fishing vessels don't clock out when conditions get rough. They work through them.
How Bottom Trawling Works — and Where It Breaks Down
Bottom trawling deploys large, weighted nets that are dragged across the seafloor behind the vessel. Trawl winches pull the net back aboard, cables tighten under thousands of pounds of pressure, and crew members position themselves close to the machinery to sort the catch, reset the gear, and prepare for the next pass.
Every stage of this process involves forces that do not forgive mistakes. A cable that snaps under tension can travel with enough force to sever a limb. A net snagging on an underwater obstruction can jerk the vessel and throw crew members off their footing. The winch drum, if not properly guarded, can pull in anything that gets too close.
The Injury Risks No One Puts in the Job Listing
The most common dangers aboard flounder trawlers include:
- Winch and cable injuries. Trawl winches and their associated cables operate under extreme mechanical tension. Equipment malfunctions, unexpected snags, or failure to properly secure lines can cause crush injuries, amputations, and fractures that require immediate hospitalization.
- Slips and falls on wet decks. Rain, sea spray, and fish slime make decks slippery. A fall on a moving vessel can mean a fall on the deck surface or a fall overboard.
- Exhaustion-related accidents. Trawler crews routinely work long shifts. Slower reaction times and impaired judgment from fatigue can cause serious injury risks.
- Shifting loads and unsecured gear. Vessel movement in open water is constant and unpredictable. Fish boxes, equipment crates, and loose gear can become projectiles when a wave catches a vessel broadside.
- Overexertion injuries. Repetitive hauling, lifting, and sorting over long shifts can cause cumulative damage to shoulders, backs, wrists, and knees.
Does Maritime Law Cover You After a Commercial Fishing Injury?
This is the question many injured fishermen ask first. Crew members who qualify as seamen are generally not covered by ordinary workers’ compensation schemes in the same way land-based workers are, and their rights often arise under federal maritime law, including the Jones Act and general maritime law.
The Jones Act
The Jones Act gives seamen the right to pursue compensation from their employers when negligence contributed to an injury. Under the Jones Act, an injured seaman must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the employer was negligent and that the negligence caused the injury, even in part. That negligence can take many forms, including but not limited to failing to maintain equipment, skipping safety training, tolerating unsafe deck conditions, or pushing crews to work to the point of exhaustion.
Compensation recoverable under the Jones Act includes lost wages, diminished future earning capacity, medical expenses, and damages for physical and psychological pain and suffering. These are not capped in the same rigid way that state workers' comp benefits typically are.
Maintenance and Cure: The No-Fault Safety Net
Even when negligence is difficult to establish, injured seamen are generally entitled to maintenance and cure under general maritime law. Maintenance covers basic living expenses, such as food and lodging, from the time a worker leaves the vessel until the worker reaches maximum medical improvement. Cure covers all reasonable and necessary medical treatment related to the injury. These obligations generally fall on the seaman’s employer or the shipowner, regardless of fault, meaning a worker does not need to prove anyone did anything wrong to receive them.
Unseaworthiness Claims
A separate legal theory known as unseaworthiness allows injured seamen to pursue a claim against the vessel owner when the vessel or its equipment was not reasonably fit for its intended purpose. For example, a broken winch guard, a deck surface without proper non-skid coating, or a net with structural failures can all serve as the basis for an unseaworthiness claim.
What to Do After a Flounder Fishing Accident
The decisions made in the hours and days following a commercial fishing injury can be essential to your recovery. You may:
- Report the injury immediately. Notify the captain, supervisor, or vessel owner as soon as possible.
- Seek medical attention without hesitation. Injured seamen are generally entitled to reasonable and necessary medical treatment under the cure doctrine. Do not minimize symptoms or wait to see if the pain resolves on its own.
- Preserve all documentation. Photographs of the injury and the conditions that caused it, names of witnesses, and records of the equipment involved all become critical evidence. Maintenance logs, safety inspection records, and incident reports may prove essential.
- Contact a maritime injury attorney before signing anything. Employers and insurers may move quickly to offer settlements. An attorney can assess whether an offer is fair or whether additional compensation is possible.
The Jones Act and many maritime personal-injury claims are generally subject to a three-year limitations period. However, claims involving the United States or public vessels may be subject to a two-year deadline.
