Santa Barbara Fisherman Seriously Injured in Freak Accident Aboard Commercial Fishing Boat in Alaska
Family Friend Raising Money to Cover Medical Bills and Family’s Living Expenses
Shaun Roche, a commercial fisherman and urchin diver from Santa Barbara, became the victim of a freak accident on a commercial fishing boat in the final hours of the sockeye salmon season in Bristol Bay, Alaska, this July.
Roche’s job was just another routine end-of-season task that fishermen have, in the past, completed without issue: spray-paint the engine room to prevent wintertime corrosion.
However, a spark of unknown origin ignited the fumes mingling in the tight space around him, causing a small explosion. Roche was able to scramble out of the engine room and strip off his respirator and clothes, but he sustained third-degree burns on 16 percent of his body in the process.
The mood on the boat was already in the trenches. Bristol Bay fishermen found themselves on the heels of an intense six-week season that saw a historic drop in commercial sockeye salmon prices, leading to protests in Alaska. Roche’s incident only added to their grief.
Instead of returning home to his wife, Tricia, and his son, Teddy, Roche was medevaced from Naknek to a hospital in Anchorage (a nearly 300-mile journey), where he will stay while he recovers. There is no determined date for his return to Santa Barbara, but he is stable.
Maressa Voss — a family friend whose husband, James, has fished with Roche for more than 10 years — organized a GoFundMe to help Tricia Roche cover her husband’s medical bills and the family’s living expenses. So far, it’s brought in $20,500 of their $25,000 goal.
The sum total of his medical expenses is undetermined, but with what has accrued so far, and with rehab to follow, Voss said they “can safely assume” those bills will not be small.
While his recovery does seem promising, Roche will need time before regaining full use of his hands. He won’t be able to work for the foreseeable future, including the upcoming urchin season in Santa Barbara, which usually runs between September and March.
“It’s been a really interesting experience watching the fishing community rally around this,” Voss told the Independent. “We think about things like shipwrecks and shark attacks, but, really, every aspect of what they do is dangerous. And it’s all for the sake of putting food on the table.”
To view the GoFundMe, click here.
