Alaska Fisherman Jonathon Botz Medevaced by Coast Guard After PSP

A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter rescue crew medevaced Jonathan Botz, a 28-year-old male reportedly suffering from shellfish poisoning aboard the fishing vessel Miss Michelle in Kupreanof Strait, 15 miles northwest of Kodiak last Saturday at 6:45 a.m.

Mr. Botz, a Chiniak fishing vessel crewmember, was medevaced after his fellow crew of the Miss Michelle moored the vessel in Port Lions where the rescue helicopter crew landed and transported Botz to Air Station Kodiak. He was released later that afternoon.

Upon landing, awaiting emergency medical service transferred Botz to the Providence Kodiak Island Medical Center.  Medical personnel suspected PSP, paralytic shellfish poisoning, to be the cause of Botz’s medical crisis.  He had just eaten a razor clam dug the day before when his face became numb and he started having diarrhea. He said he did not remove the stomach of the clam and that this is possibly why he got sick.

Paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP), sometimes called red tide, is caused by a type of algae eaten by shellfish. Despite its common name it is not always associated with red algae blooms. The red algae can affect your nervous system immediately and even cause death in two hours.  All molluscan shellfish including clams, mussels, oysters and scallops can have paralytic shellfish poison.  The Department of Health regularly checks shellfish for PSP toxin and closes areas with unsafe levels. You can call the Marine Biotoxin Hotline at 1-800-562-5632 to find out what areas are closed due to PSP.

Botz is the skipper of the Miss Michelle, a 55-foot seiner fishing vessel, homeport unknown.  At the time of this incident, the vessel was returning from salmon opening.

If you have questions about an on-board illness you contracted while working in the service of a vessel, please contact the maritime lawyers of Schechter, Shaffer & Harris,LLP.  Our firm has handled Jones Act and maritime law cases in Alaska with the assistance of local counsel for over 45 years.