Crab Fisherman Injured In Accident Off Bodega Bay

BODEGA BAY (BCN) -- An Oregon man crab fishing off the coast of Bodega Bay lost the tips of two of his fingers Friday morning when his right hand got caught in a crab block, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

The injured 48-year-old man was on board the 44-foot vessel Carmillo out of Harbor, Ore. with two other fishermen when the accident happened around 10 a.m., Petty Officer 2nd Class Wesley Sedlacek said.

Two 47-foot motor lifeboats with crews from Coast Guard Station Bodega Bay were conducting training in the area and responded to a call for help from the Carmillo, Petty Officer 3rd Class Levi Read said.

Sedlacek, an emergency medical technician, said the fisherman's right hand got caught in the crab block, part of a motorized pulley system used to lift crab pots aboard a vessel.

The crew of the Carmillo saved the tips of the injured fisherman's fingers and kept them on ice, Sedlacek said.

The injured man was put on board one of the Coast Guard vessels and taken to the Coast Guard Station in Bodega Bay.

The Bodega Bay Fire Department transferred the man to Palm Drive Hospital in Sebastopol.

The Carmillo was about two miles offshore when the accident happened, Sedlacek said.

The Oregon crew was crab fishing off the Sonoma Coast this week and had fished this morning for about 30 minutes before the accident happened, Sedlacek said.

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