Crabbing season is fast approaching, but there are some fishers who wont be going out without their safety stickers.

The U.S. Coast Guard, having recently started enforcing a mandatory dockside safety examination for all commercial fishing vessels going farther out than three miles, is beginning a push to examine fishing vessels, making sure the crews have the equipment and training to respond in an emergency.

Theres approximately 300 vessels in our zone that need exams before the start of crab season, said Mike Rudolph, a Coast Guard fishing vessel examiner with Marine Safety Unit Portland. Thats from Westport (Wash.) down to Brookings.

Rudolph said there are more than 500 vessels involved in the Oregon-Washington Dungeness Crab Season. There are approximately 22 vessels in Ilwaco and Chinook (Wash.) and 42 in Astoria and Warrenton specifically that need their Commercial Fishing Vessel Safety decals, which certify theyve passed the exam.

Weve done quite a bit, he said of the examination blitz so far. Our exam load has … tripled in the last month and a half. But we expected that.

Rudolph, along with scores of other examiners stationed along the coast, board vessels, checking their management plans, safety equipment, EPIRBs (Emergency Positioning Radio Beacons), general and high-water alarms and other equipment. They make sure both the general and high-water alarms work, said Rudolph, and check to see that the crew has been performing safety drills at least once a month.

The enforcement side is never the best way to get compliance, said Rudolph. The best way is to instill a safety culture in the fleet.

After the examination, the Coast Guard examiner gifts a safety decal. The new requirements stem from the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010.

The applicable safety requirements (46 C.F.R. Part 28) have not changed, and vessels should already be in compliance with the regulations. Vessels that currently have a valid safety decal, which last two years, will not be required to get the exam until the decal expires.

Starting Nov. 12 and going through Nov. 16, the Coast Guard will start Operation Get Decal, the replacement for Operation Safe Crab during which examiners will be stationed at all ports covered by Sector Columbia River between Westport, Wash., and Brookings performing exams. Rudolph said its recommended that fishers preschedule their exams by calling 503-240-9337 or 503-240-9373.

Mike Brown, owner of the 95-foot, long-line and trolling tuna vessel Mikette in Ilwaco, Wash., said a lot of the things the Coast Guard checks have already become standard with fishermen.

We always have the raft, survival suits, EPIRB all the things that are required, he said. Weve always had those, but were big offshore boats.

He said the shorter boats staying closer to shore are often the ones falling behind on equipment and training, often for economic reasons.

Most of them (fishing vessels) have to buy a four-man raft they run about $2,500 to $3,000, said Brown. Survival suits are almost $300 a piece, EPIRBs $1,000.

If you had a small fishing boat that didnt have any of those things, youre looking at $4,000 or $5,000. That might be a problem with smaller boats.

Still, he said, most boats seem to be complying with the requirements. Rudolph said that might be a generational swing, younger fishers growing up with safety more on their minds and more regulations to follow.

The Coast Guard Authorization Act made significant changes to requirements for Uninspected Commercial Fishing Industry Vessels, such the 3-nautical mile rule, keeping logbooks documenting safety drills and maintenance, new training requirements for skippers and other construction and equipment requirements. They are meant to build on the Commercial Fishing Industry Vessel Safety Act of 1988.

Rudolph said some of those new rules are coming down the pipeline, and the timetable for their enforcement is still unknown.

Vessel owners and operators can find more information on the dockside examinations and create a customized checklist for their vessels by visiting www.uscg.mil/d13/cfvs/