Researchers Target Safety on Gulf Shrimp Boats

BROWNSVILLE (AP/Staff) – Researchers in Tyler are trying to overcome a language barrier to teach safety to Gulf of Mexico shrimp fishermen in America’s deadliest commercial fishery. With Vietnamese and Spanish the dominant languages among some Gulf shrimp fleets, researchers at UT Health Science Center at Tyler are developing outreach programs in fishermen’s native languages. The government-backed researchers are designing safety signs based on universal symbols and preparing to release an interactive CD in three languages on how to make mayday calls. The UTHSCT researchers have found that many fishermen wouldn’t use their radios to call for help because they didn’t speak enough English. A federal study shows 55 Gulf shrimping deaths between 2000 and 2009. 29 of them were fishermen who fell overboard.

Despite the researchers’ efforts, funding for their work may be cut. The national program under which the researchers operate is targeted for elimination in the President’s 2012 budget proposal.