The short version
- Alaska state law adds a benefit, not a vessel obligation. The equipment rules stay federal, under 46 CFR part 28.
- The Aleutian trade fish tender is the third applicability trigger in 28.200 and is captured regardless of Boundary Lines or headcount.
- The Alaska Fishermen’s Fund has paid licensed commercial fishermen’s medical costs since 1951, up to $10,000 per injury.
- Three clocks start on one injury: 7 days to notify under 28.90, 120 days to first treatment, one year to file the Fund application.
- Two Alaska COVID health mandates from 2020 still rank on this query. Date-check anything you build a compliance file from.
An Alaska operator carries two medical obligations that a Gulf or East Coast operator does not think about, and neither one is a state rule that adds equipment to the vessel. One is a federal applicability trigger written specifically for Alaska. The other is a state benefit that pays crew medical bills and expires on clocks nobody tracks.
Search this and you get workers’ compensation lawyers, a CDC safety page and two Alaska health mandates from 2020. None of them puts the federal duty and the Alaska benefit on the same page.
The applicability trigger written for Alaska
Section 28.200 pulls a documented commercial fishing industry vessel into Subpart C on any one of three triggers: operating beyond the Boundary Lines, operating with more than 16 individuals on board, or being a fish tender vessel engaged in the Aleutian trade[1].
Why the third trigger is an Alaska problemThe Aleutian trade tender is captured by what it does, not by where it goes or how many people it carries. A tender working inside the Boundary Lines with a crew of six is still inside Subpart C. Part 28 also carries a whole subpart for these vessels, Subpart G, Aleutian Trade Act vessels[6]. Most compliance summaries list two triggers and stop.
The Boundary Lines themselves are not abstract. They are drawn section by section in 46 CFR part 7, and Alaska occupies seven of them[5].
| Section of 46 CFR part 7 | Alaska waters it draws |
|---|---|
| 7.150 | Canadian (BC) and United States (AK) borders to Cape Spencer, AK |
| 7.155 | Cape Spencer to Cape St. Elias |
| 7.160 | Point Whitshed to Aialik Cape |
| 7.165 | Kenai Peninsula to Kodiak Island |
| 7.170 | Alaska Peninsula to the Aleutian Islands |
| 7.175 | Alaska Peninsula to Nunivak |
| 7.180 | Kotzebue Sound |
Find the section that matches your grounds, write the determination down once, and stop re-litigating it every season. That single line is the top of every compliance file, and the federal obligation list follows from it.
The Alaska Fishermen’s Fund, and why it belongs in a medical program
Alaska has run a fund since 1951 that pays the medical costs of licensed commercial fishermen injured in the course of fishing. It is administered by the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development with the Fishermen’s Fund Advisory and Appeals Council[4].
| Element | What the Fund provides |
|---|---|
| Who qualifies | Alaska licensed commercial fishermen holding a valid commercial fishing licence or limited entry permit before the time of injury or illness[4] |
| What it pays | Transportation, medical care, hospitalisation, prescriptions, therapy and chiropractic care |
| Connection required | Occupational injury or illness directly connected with operations as a commercial fisherman, in Alaska waters or on shore |
| Maximum | $10,000 per injury or disability, extendable for compelling reasons approved by the Council |
| Treatment deadline | Initial treatment within 120 days of onset |
| Application deadline | Within one year after initial treatment |
This is a benefit, not an obligation on the vessel. It changes nothing about what you carry. It changes a great deal about what happens after an injury, and it is the reason the medical file and the crewing file have to be readable together: the licence must predate the injury.
Three clocks start on one injury
This is the part no ranking page assembles, and it is where Alaska operators actually lose money. A single injury starts three separate countdowns under two different authorities.
| Clock | Authority | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Crew notifies the master or employer | 46 CFR 28.90 | 7 days after the illness, disability or injury arose[3] |
| Initial treatment received | Alaska Fishermen’s Fund | 120 days after onset[4] |
| Fund application submitted | Alaska Fishermen’s Fund | 1 year after initial treatment[4] |
The failure modeA deckhand tolerates an injury through the season and seeks treatment in the autumn. The seven-day federal notification is already missed, which weakens the record. If treatment slips past 120 days from onset the Fund route may close too. Nothing about the vessel was non-compliant, and the crew member still ends up with no benefit and no documentation. The fix is a reporting habit, not equipment.
Note that the federal duty in 28.90 sits on the individual, who must notify the master, individual in charge or other agent of the employer[3]. Making that easy is an operator decision, and the injury placard required by part 28 exists for exactly that reason.
Two 2020 mandates are still ranking on this question
Alaska Health Mandate 017 belongs to the COVID-19 emergency period of 2020 and still appears on page one of this search, on a state page and on a mirrored copy. It is an artefact of that period, not a live description of what an Alaska fishing operation must do medically today.
The point is not the mandate. The point is the pattern: search results on maritime medical questions routinely surface expired instruments, and this project has now documented three separate cases, including a 1958 ILO recommendation withdrawn in 2023 that still ranks for chest contents[2]. Anything you build a compliance file from needs a date and a source check. The compliance audit covers that check.
What Alaska distance actually changes about the chest
Federal law gives you no contents list. Section 28.210(a) asks for a complete first aid manual and a medicine chest of a size suitable for the number of individuals on board, in a readily accessible location, and specifies nothing further[2].
In Alaska the undefined variable does the work. Distance to definitive care from the Bering Sea or the Aleutians is measured in days and weather windows, not hours, and a sizing method that ignores that is indefensible whatever it stocks. Write the method down against four inputs: persons carried, longest voyage, realistic time to definitive care, and the work performed. The build itself is covered in how to stock a ship medicine chest, and the sizing logic in the 28.210 rules.
If the chest holds controlled substances, 21 CFR 1301.25 applies on its own terms and is the strictest rule touching an Alaska fishing vessel[7]. See 21 CFR 1301.25 explained, the two lawful routes, recordkeeping, the two annual reports, disposal and the inspection checklist.
Four things an Alaska operator should do before the next opener
- Write the applicability line. Which of the three triggers catches you, and which part 7 section your grounds sit in[1][5].
- Check the licences predate the season, not the injury. Fund eligibility turns on holding a valid licence or limited entry permit before the injury[4].
- Make injury reporting frictionless. Seven days is short at sea. A logged, dated report protects the vessel and starts the crew member’s Fund clock properly[3].
- Size the chest against time to definitive care, not against a catalogue. Then have someone qualified sign it. MedChest does the build, consulting reviews the program, and the six-decision sequence sets the order.
Items two and three cost nothing and carry most of the recoverable value, because they are the difference between an injured crew member with a paid claim and one without. Discovery Health MD works from Seattle, which is where most of this fleet is managed from. More in the guidance library, the full service list and the physicians behind it.
Common questions
Do Alaska state rules add medical requirements to a fishing vessel?
Not to the vessel. Alaska adds a benefit, not an obligation. The Fishermen’s Fund pays medical costs for licensed Alaska commercial fishermen injured in connection with fishing[4]. The vessel-side requirements remain federal, under 46 CFR part 28[2]. See the federal list.
What does the Alaska Fishermen’s Fund actually pay for?
Transportation, medical care, hospitalisation, prescriptions, therapy and chiropractic care for an occupational injury or illness directly connected with operations as a commercial fisherman, in Alaska waters or on shore[4]. It pays up to $10,000 per injury or disability, extendable for compelling reasons approved by the Council. Ask us how it interacts with your program.
What are the deadlines on a Fishermen’s Fund claim?
Two, and they run on different clocks. Initial treatment must be received within 120 days after onset of the injury or illness, and the application must be submitted within one year after initial treatment[4]. That sits alongside the federal seven-day notification duty in 46 CFR 28.90[3].
Who is eligible for the fund?
Alaska licensed commercial fishermen holding a valid commercial fishing licence or limited entry permit before the time of injury or illness[4]. The licence has to predate the injury, which is why the crewing file and the medical file need to be readable together. Our consulting service reviews both.
What is the Aleutian trade trigger and why does it matter in Alaska?
It is the third applicability trigger in 46 CFR 28.200: a fish tender vessel engaged in the Aleutian trade falls into Subpart C regardless of the Boundary Lines or headcount[1]. It is an Alaska-specific trigger and the one most compliance summaries omit. See the 28.210 breakdown.
How do I know if I operate beyond the Boundary Lines?
They are drawn in 46 CFR part 7, and sections 7.150 through 7.180 cover Alaska from the Canadian border to Kotzebue Sound[5]. Find the section that matches your grounds and record the determination once. An audit starts with exactly this question.
Do the COVID-era Alaska health mandates still apply?
Alaska Health Mandate 017 dates from 2020 and belongs to the COVID-19 emergency period, yet it still surfaces on this search. Treat anything from that period as historic and verify against current sources before relying on it. The stable requirements are federal, in 46 CFR part 28[2], and our MedChest service keeps a chest current against them.
