According to information released by the U.S. Coast Guard, Sundays search for a Dungeness crab fisherman who fell overboard from the 47-foot commercial fishing vessel ‘Chief Joseph’ approximately eight miles west of the South Spit in Humboldt Bay has been suspended.
Two crew members aboard the ‘Chief Joseph’ were reported to have fallen overboard while attending to crab pots around 1:10 a.m. The vessel captain was able to pull one person back aboard but could not see the other fisherman. The man who was retrieved had no reported injuries.
U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Humboldt Bay immediately dispatched an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew that was first on scene at 1:50 a.m., followed by a 47-foot Motor Lifeboat crew from Station Humboldt Bay. A C-27 Spartan fixed-wing aircraft crew from Air Station Sacramento arrived an hour later, and the crews searched the area continuously until the case was suspended at approximately 1:15 p.m.
The suspension of the search comes after Coast Guard crews from Station Humboldt Bay, Air Station Humboldt Bay and Air Station Sacramento conducted an 11-hour search that covered almost 700 square miles.