Opinion ID: 78415
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Maritime Common Law

Text: Commercial seamen have historically been treated as wards of the court, enjoying special protections because they are vulnerable to exploitation by their employers at sea. Fuller v. Golden Age Fisheries, 14 F.3d 1405, 1408 (9th Cir.1994). Myriad decisions note that the shipmaster is obliged to provide suitable food and water to these seamen under his charge. See, e.g., The Lottie Bennett, 3 F.Supp. 764 (N.D.Cal.1933); The Balize, 2 F. Cas. 547 (E.D.Mich.1872); Foster v. Sampson, 9 F. Cas. 572 (D.C.Mass.1849); Dixon v. The Cyrus, 7 F. Cas. 755 (D.Pa.1789). Seamen aboard fishing vessels, however, have traditionally borne greater responsibility for themselves and their provisions than those aboard other commercial vessels. This is reflected in both our common and statutory law. Unlike merchant seamen, who have long enjoyed the special protection of courts and Congress, American fishermen... have not been the subject of much federal legislative concern throughout most of our nation's history. TCW Special Credits v. Chloe Z Fishing Co., 129 F.3d 1330, 1332 (9th Cir.1997). Other courts have also noted the distinction between fishermen and merchant seamen. In Sigurjonsson v. Trans-American Traders, 188 F.2d 760 (5th Cir.1951), the former Fifth Circuit in binding precedent held that the crew was not entitled to seamen's wages provided by statute because it contracted with the owner of the ship for half of the proceeds from the sale of the fish caught on their voyage. Id. at 762. [1] The court also noted that fishing vessels are expressly excluded from the [wage] penalty provisions of 46 U.S.C. §§ 596 and 665, the applicable statutes governing the conditions of employment of merchant seamen at the time. Id. In Welch v. Fallon, 181 F. 875 (D.C.Mass. 1909), the court noted that merchant vessels, whose voyages may probably oblige them to stay at sea for considerable periods, or take them far away from any port of supply, and for the outfitting of which the owners assume a full responsibility, are required by statute to be provided with a chest of medicines. ... But there is no such requirement applying to fishing vessels, and, speaking generally, it may be said that, so far as they are concerned, little occasion exists for any such requirement. Not only does their employment seldom take them far out of reach of a port of supply, but the supplies to be consumed on their trips, if furnished by the owners in the first instance, are really paid for by the captain and crew out of their share in the voyage. Id. at 877. In Old Point Fish Co. v. Haywood, 109 F.2d 703, 704 (4th Cir.1940), the court observed that it was common practice from ancient times for the crew of a fishing vessel to furnish the food, ice and fuel and receive a portion of the proceeds from the catch. These and other similar cases reveal that seamen aboard fishing vessels have historically been compensated with a share of the revenue from the catch and that they have provided the fuel and other provisions for the journey, or, if the provisions were provided by the ship's owner, the owner debited their cost from the seamen's share of the profits  just like Kurtz. Kurtz contends that the common law doctrine of seaworthiness requires the provision of food and beverage to crew members. Seaworthiness is an implied warranty from a ship's owner to its crew that the vessel is reasonably fit for its intended purpose. Vierling v. Celebrity Cruises, Inc., 339 F.3d 1309, 1318 (11th Cir.2003). Kurtz argues that: 1) a ship must be kept seaworthy at all times; 2) the crew is an integral part of the ship; 3) the ship is unfit if the crew is unfit; 4) the crew is unfit if it lacks adequate food and water; and 5) the provision of food and water is thus necessary for a ship to be seaworthy. The principal problem with this argument is that the same common law that creates the doctrine of seaworthiness recognizes the longstanding customs of seafaring fishermen, i.e., that the fishermen are responsible for their provisions. The ship is no less seaworthy if the fisherman provide their own food and water. Seaworthiness does not oblige the shipmaster to provide food or beverage to the fishermen.