Fishing and workboat crew medicine
Written for the operator, cited to the rule
The medical realities of commercial fishing and workboat operations: what a small crew carries, who they call, and how operators keep a season staffed.
Most maritime medical content is written for cruise and merchant fleets. Fishing vessels have smaller crews, longer isolation and their own rule set, including 46 CFR 28.210 for the medicine chest. Discovery Health MD was founded in Seattle around exactly this work.
What medical equipment and guides must a ship carry?
The guide operators open first
21 CFR 1301.25 explained, for the people who have to comply with it
- August 5, 2026
Everything in Guide
Answers operators and search engines look for
US commercial fishing industry vessels have medicine-chest requirements under 46 CFR 28.210. What goes in it depends on the vessel, route and crew size. See MedChest.
Requirements vary by operator and by credential held. Many fishing operators run an annual fit-for-duty exam as company policy, both for crew safety and to document pre-existing conditions. See Fit-for-Duty.
The free radio medical advice service is the baseline. Operators working long Alaska seasons commonly add a private physician line so the doctor already knows the vessel and its chest, see SeaDoc.
Yes. The company was founded in Seattle in 2016 around commercial fishing and workboat operations, and Alaska Sea Grant risk-management guidance names Discovery Health as a provider of remote medical advice to Alaska fishing fleets.
Reading about compliance is not the same as being compliant
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