{"id":6650,"date":"2021-07-26T13:56:04","date_gmt":"2021-07-26T17:56:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/agrability\/?p=6650"},"modified":"2021-08-06T13:58:14","modified_gmt":"2021-08-06T17:58:14","slug":"fishability-for-maine-fishermen-energy-conservation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/agrability\/2021\/07\/26\/fishability-for-maine-fishermen-energy-conservation\/","title":{"rendered":"FishAbility for Maine Fishermen &#8211; Energy Conservation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>By Brie Weisman, Occupational Therapist<br \/>\nAlso published by <\/em>Commercial Fisheries News<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #003366\">Commercial fishing involves working in harsh environments and being in physically and mentally strenuous situations. Energy Conservation can help<\/span><\/strong>; it\u2019s the practice of examining tasks and structuring them to minimize muscle fatigue, joint stress, and pain by using your body efficiently and ergonomically.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366\">Weather challenges<\/span>: Being outdoors in wet, cold, heat and wind saps your energy.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Wear proper clothing and footwear for the environment.<\/li>\n<li>Drink enough fluid to stay hydrated.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366\">Boat environment:<\/span> Being on your feet on a rocking boat for hours on end requires your core to be constantly engaged in keeping you balanced. This constant, low level challenge is an often unnoticed drain of energy over the course of the day.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Use anti-fatigue style mats.<\/li>\n<li>Use of friction paint or other deck surfacing minimizes the amount of energy spent staying balanced on your feet.<\/li>\n<li>Improve your core strength through exercise.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366\">Strenuous tasks:<\/span> Fishing involves hard physical labor and often brute force seems like the most efficient choice. While using maximum physical effort may seem quicker, it will also rob your energy more rapidly making you fatigued earlier.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Use equipment to haul heavy gear or heft with a coworker.<\/li>\n<li>Slide gear along the deck or gunnel rather than lifting.<\/li>\n<li>Working at a height 2\u201d below your elbows will reduce back wear and tear.<\/li>\n<li>Limit bending, lifting and twisting.<\/li>\n<li>Sitting whenever possible will save 25% of your energy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366\">Stress:<\/span> Safety, weather, and finances are just a few of the stressors fishermen endure. Stress is an unhealthy and exhausting strain on our bodies.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Use of breathing techniques can immediately reduce stress.<\/li>\n<li>Healthy diet, regular exercise, and meditation are all proven stress reducers.<\/li>\n<li>For longer term stress management, talk to your primary care provider.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In order to be productive, it&#8217;s essential to maintain your health and safety. Even minor changes can lower the risk of injury and improve productivity.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3><strong><span style=\"color: #003366\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-6658\" src=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/agrability\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2021\/06\/IMG_3180-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"fisherman hauling kelp line onto boat while a woman oversee the harvest\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/agrability\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2021\/06\/IMG_3180-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/agrability\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2021\/06\/IMG_3180-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/agrability\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2021\/06\/IMG_3180-105x79.jpg 105w, https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/agrability\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2021\/06\/IMG_3180-317x238.jpg 317w, https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/agrability\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2021\/06\/IMG_3180-423x317.jpg 423w, https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/agrability\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2021\/06\/IMG_3180-634x476.jpg 634w, https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/agrability\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2021\/06\/IMG_3180-846x635.jpg 846w, https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/agrability\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2021\/06\/IMG_3180-951x713.jpg 951w, https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/agrability\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2021\/06\/IMG_3180-500x375.jpg 500w, https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/agrability\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2021\/06\/IMG_3180.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 320px) 85vw, (max-width: 768px) 67vw, (max-width: 1024px) 62vw,300px\" \/>Keeping it Local<\/span> <\/strong><b><br \/>\n<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>Phoebe Jekielek, Research Director at Hurricane Island Center for Science and Leadership, is a marine biologist specializing in marine science and policy.<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #003366\">What\u2019s the hardest part of your job working with scallop aquaculture?<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>We used to haul up everything by hand &#8211; which is hard on your shoulders and back. I didn\u2019t think that pulling up the bottom cages by hand would be such a big deal, but it became one. It\u2019s exhausting and dangerous. So it becomes a safety issue and is absolutely an efficiency issue.<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #003366\">Why do you love working with scallops?<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Scallops are the most charismatic of the bivalves, they interact with you. You can actually see inside them. They\u2019re a very important part of our fishing, and now farming, industry.<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #003366\">What\u2019s the most surprising thing about this work?<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>\u201cThe community. I had no idea that we would be welcomed into such a supportive, innovative, community of growers. Everyone has their own way of doing things and each site is different and unique.<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #003366\">What\u2019s your favorite piece of equipment?<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Our 24&#8242; Carolina skiff, <i>Speed Square<\/i>. It provides an amazing platform for work allowing us to load it up with a bunch of gear and go diving off of it. It has a pot hauler, which has become essential to us.<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #003366\">What&#8217;s the one thing you can&#8217;t leave the dock without?<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>&#8220;Boots are pretty essential to protect your feet and keep you dry and warm. And a pair of gloves, and a life jacket.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Brie Weisman, Occupational Therapist Also published by Commercial Fisheries News Commercial fishing involves working in harsh environments and being in physically and mentally strenuous situations. Energy Conservation can help; it\u2019s the practice of examining tasks and structuring them to minimize muscle fatigue, joint stress, and pain by using your body efficiently and ergonomically. Weather [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"73","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","spc_primary_category":0},"categories":[73,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fishability","category-news"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":73,"label":"FishAbility"},{"value":5,"label":"News"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"","author_link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/agrability\/author\/"},"comment_info":"","category_info":[{"term_id":73,"name":"FishAbility","slug":"fishability","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":73,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":31,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":73,"category_count":31,"category_description":"","cat_name":"FishAbility","category_nicename":"fishability","category_parent":0},{"term_id":5,"name":"News","slug":"news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5,"taxonomy":"category","description":"News about AgrAbility","parent":0,"count":258,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":5,"category_count":258,"category_description":"News about AgrAbility","cat_name":"News","category_nicename":"news","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/agrability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/agrability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/agrability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/agrability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/agrability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6650"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/agrability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6650\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6820,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/agrability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6650\/revisions\/6820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/agrability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/agrability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/agrability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}