Boating

As a WSG marine operations specialist, Fisken grew the organization’s marine workshop program and forged trust and community across the state in the process

From the Winter 2023/2024 Sea Star

By Samantha Larson, WSG Science Writer

The first time Sarah Fisken put on a survival suit, she was immediately thrown overboard. She was on a boat anchored out in Southeast Alaska, as she was spending the summer commercial fishing for salmon. There was another boat anchored nearby that she and the rest of the crew wanted to get to, but they didn’t have a skiff. So, they all put on their survival suits — emergency gear intended to protect oceangoers from hypothermia. Then the boat’s skipper picked Fisken up and threw her into the water.

“He thought it was funny,” Fisken says. “We swam over to the other boat, had a party, and swam back. The suit kept me warm and dry!”

Little did she know then, Fisken would go on to have a long career teaching hundreds of people how to put on survival suits and other skills that are essential to a water-based lifestyle. Having worked as a Washington Sea Grant (WSG) marine operations specialist for nearly 40 years, she retired this past summer. Over that time, Fisken’s name became synonymous with marine education across Washington, as she offered about a dozen workshops every year to commercial fishermen and recreational boaters. Many people have credited Fisken with giving them life-saving skills that they used when they found themselves in an emergency. Perhaps most of all, however, she’s known for the great lengths to which she’ll swim in the effort to foster connection and community.

When Fisken joined WSG in 1984, she was the first female marine advisory agent at the organization. Having worked as a commercial fisherman for several summers by that point, however, she had an easy rapport with her male-dominated constituency and was able to quickly gain their respect and trust. When she began at WSG, she was helping out with fishing net mending courses from her office at Fishermen’s Terminal in Seattle. As she walked the docks and chatted up the skippers and fishermen, they would tell her about their other educational needs, such as first aid at sea and how to maintain a diesel engine. At the same time, she met more and more people who had the knowledge to serve as instructors. “I would say, okay, well, let’s try it,” Fisken says.

As WSG’s workshop program continued to expand, Fisken increasingly brought the workshops to communities outside of Seattle. In particular, she became an advocate for underserved stakeholders on the Washington coast, particularly for tribal communities. Fisken’s connection with the Makah Tribe goes back to the summer of 1972 when she worked on the Ozette Village Archeological Site in Neah Bay as a fresh high school graduate. For 30 years, Fisken drew upon those connections to offer First Aid at Sea workshops to the tribal community. “Participation is a big deal,” says Cheryl Sones, Makah Fisheries management coordinator. “Every topic covered in the workshops is something that could happen out there, anytime — but they know what to do in case an accident happens.”

At least 15 people credit Fisken’s workshops with saving their lives. For example, fisher Libby Cain knew exactly what to do when her boat caught on fire while at sea, having recently taken WSG’s Drill Instructor workshop. When another course participant’s boat sank in Southeast Alaska, they also knew exactly what to do. “He told me that no one panicked, because they had been through the class,” Fisken says.

Throughout her career at WSG, Fisken made an impact in other areas of work as well. She helped fishermen with directly marketing their fish to consumers, including helping with the development of outreach events like the Wild Seafood Exchange. She was constantly in the community, watching out for the next need. During the pandemic, she had the nimbleness to connect a food bank in Jefferson County tasked with feeding Native families to a fish processor who had truckloads of fresh fish he couldn’t sell due to the loss of his overseas market, creating a win-win for all.

Fisken’s fondest memories of working at WSG are her time spent in a close-knit team. For years, she worked with former WSG staff Steve Harbell and Eric Olsson to bring workshops to the coast. “We would go to La Push and share a condo and make meals together — and we had just over-the-top fun,” Fisken says. “It was a perfect dynamic.”

Getting the chance to work with Fisken meant a lot to these colleagues as well. “As a work colleague, I found her to be a dedicated, steadfast and committed professional — a true catalyst for getting things done. As a friend, I continue to find comfort in her unwavering loyalty,” says Olsson. “Sarah never sought the limelight but found success in her ability to engage in a trusting and honest manner — to grasp obscure maritime traditions and to understand and embrace cultural sensitivities.”

After retirement, Fisken’s next adventures will include continuing to work on Jefferson County’s Marine Resources Committee as well as lots of time on her sailboat. She’ll be sure to have her survival suit at the ready for whatever may come her way!

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Washington Sea Grant, based at the University of Washington, helps people and marine life thrive through research, technical expertise and education supporting the responsible use and conservation of coastal ecosystems. The National Sea Grant College Program is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce.

www.wsg.uw.edu.

Join the conversation: instagram.com/waseagrant and Facebook.com/WaSeaGrant.

May 1, 2024

Mobile pumpout boats improve water quality in the Puget Sound and provide options for recreational boaters with bilges.

Puget Sound — Options for recreational boaters to pump out boat sewage safely and efficiently are expanding throughout Puget Sound as the number of traveling “pumpout boats” grows.

When combined with stationary pumpout units at marinas, these grant-funded mobile pumpout boats keep an estimated 8-10 million gallons of sewage out of Puget Sound annually, protecting shellfish beds and improving overall water quality. Recreational boating has steadily increased in popularity around Puget Sound since the pandemic. That’s one reason Washington State Parks’ Clean Vessel Act program (CVA) is making it a priority to help fund and coordinate with ports and marinas as they add more mobile pumpout boats to meet the growing need for vessel sewage disposal options.

The CVA program funds infrastructure and educates boaters on the importance of safe and legal sewage disposal through Pumpout Washington, an educational outreach program run by Washington Sea Grant with funding from the Washington State Parks CVA program. Pumpout Washington improves stewardship practices that protect the quality of local waterways.

Boaters have a strong interest in using mobile pumpout boats because the boats come to them, making it easy to do the right thing – pump out their sewage rather than dump it overboard.  “Every boater has at one time or another been frustrated by the need to pump out but may not have been near a pumpout station. This type of service is especially helpful in those beautiful and remote areas with high boating activity that may not be near a marina with a pumpout station, like parts of the South Sound or the San Juan Islands,” says Rob Sendak, who serves as the State’s Boating Law Administrator and oversees the CVA program.

Area ports and marinas are equally motivated to provide pumpout services. Puget Sound’s Kitsap and Pierce Counties recently expanded services on Blake Island, Liberty Bay, Eagle Harbor, Illahee State Park, Fort Ward and Port Madison. Port Townsend also has a mobile pumpout based at Boat Haven Marina.

Port Ludlow maintains a wood and fully electric pumpout boat through a partnership with the Northwest School for Wooden Boat Building.  The school’s executive director, Betsy Davis, sees the arrangement as a win-win. “We really appreciate the learning opportunities that this project is providing to our students,“ she says.

To make it easier for boaters to find a nearby mobile pumpout boat, Washington State Parks partnered with Washington Sea Grant to develop the Pumpout Boat Tracker, a GIS map that locates mobile boats in real time. The tool, which was first piloted last year and is now in phase 2 of development, will reach boaters in Pierce and Kitsap Counties and parts of Mason County.

Pumpout Washington keeps boaters informed of updates on pumpout locations, instructs boaters to effectively pump out and provides free tools for efficient pumping. But the program isn’t the only resource available to boaters. The Washington Department of Ecology’s “Pump Out Don’t Dump Out” campaign educates boaters on how to use the “Y-valve,” a device required by law on boats with installed toilets that diverts waste to a holding tank. This training  makes it easier for boaters to comply with the Puget Sound No Discharge Zone (NDZ) ruling. Justine Asohmbom, an education coordinator at the Department of Ecology adds, “We’re thrilled that boaters are beginning to implement use of the Y-valve. Their efforts support the NDZ program and ultimately improve water quality for boaters and wildlife.” The NDZ ruling now applies to all boats in Puget Sound and certain adjoining waters where boaters may not release treated or untreated sewage from Type I and Type II marine sanitation devices (MSDs).

Washington Sea Grant and Washington State Parks’ CVA grant program also promote Pumpout Nav, a free phone app and convenient tool helping boaters to keep their holding tanks empty and Washington’s waters healthy. The app allows boaters to find one of nearly 200 pumpout and dump stations in Washington as well as hundreds of pumpouts in California and Oregon, and is available for both iOS and Android devices. Also among the tools offered to boaters is the free pumpout adapter, an easy screw-in nozzle that keeps sewage from spilling over.

As the boating season gets underway, not only sewage spills, but also smaller oil spills from recreational boaters are a big contributor to water pollution. Up to 25 percent of oil spills are known to come from smaller vessels. The Washington Sea Grant Small Spills Prevention Program provides boaters with the knowledge and tools they need to report oil spills and stop oil pollution at the source, including a free Small Oil Spills Prevention fuel bib, an absorbent pad that fits snuggly on the fuel nozzle of a boat. The Small Spills Prevention Program is managed by Washington Sea Grant and Washington Department of Ecology.

Find a full list of mobile pumpout boats and pumpout stations on the Pumpout Washington website: pumpoutwashington.org.

For free boater pumpout materials contact Washington Sea Grant’s boating specialists Aaron Barnett at aaronb5@uw.edu, 206.616.8929 or Bridget Trosin at bemmett@uw.edu, or contact Ashley Seydel with Washington State Parks at ashley.seydel@parks.wa.gov.

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The CVA program is part of the Clean Vessel Act of 1992 supported by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Sportfish Restoration Fund from special taxes on recreational boats, fishing gear and boat fuel. In Washington the program is managed by Washington State Parks. Washington Sea Grant provides small oil spills bibs and pillows as well as pumpout adapter kits to individual boaters, marinas, yacht clubs or other organizations that serve recreational boaters.

Washington Sea Grant, based within the College of the Environment at the University of Washington, helps people and marine life thrive through marine research, technical expertise and education supporting the responsible use and conservation of coastal ecosystems. The National Sea Grant College Program is a federal-state partnership of 33 programs nationwide within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. www.wsg.washington.edu.

Join the conversation: @WASeaGrant and Facebook.com/WaSeaGrant.