[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 29, Volume 3]
[Revised as of July 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 29CFR784.123]

[Page 677]
 
                             TITLE 29--LABOR
 
         CHAPTER V--WAGE AND HOUR DIVISION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
 
PART 784_PROVISIONS OF THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT APPLICABLE TO FISHING 
AND OPERATIONS ON AQUATIC PRODUCTS--Table of Contents
 
Subpart B_Exemptions Provisions Relating to Fishing and Aquatic Products
 
Sec. 784.123  Operations performed on fishing equipment.

    On the principle stated in Sec. 784.122 the replacement, repair, 
mending, or construction of the fisherman's equipment performed at the 
place of the fishing operation would be exempt. Such activities 
performed in contemplation of the trip are also within the exemption if 
the work is so closely related both in point of time and function to the 
acquisition of the aquatic life that it is really a part of the fishing 
operation or of ``going to * * * work.'' For example, under appropriate 
facts, the repair of the nets, or of the vessel, or the building of fish 
trap frames on the shore immediately prior to the opening of the fishing 
season would be within the exemption. Activities at the termination of a 
fishing trip which are similarly related in time and function to the 
actual conduct of fishing operations or ``returning from work'' may be 
within the exemption on like principles. Similarly, the fact that the 
exemption is intended generally for ``offshore'' activities does not 
mean that it may not apply to employment in other activities performed 
on shore which are so integrated with the conduct of actual fishing 
operations and functionally so necessary thereto that the employment is, 
in practical effect, directly and necessarily a part of the fishing 
operations for which the exemption is intended. In such circumstances 
the exemption will apply, for example, to an employee employed by a 
vessel owner to watch the fishing vessel, its equipment, and the catch 
when it comes to port, checks the mooring lines, operate bilge pumps and 
heating and cooling systems on the vessel, and assist in the loading and 
unloading of the fishing equipment and the catch. Work of the kinds 
referred to may be exempt when performed by the fisherman himself or 
necessary to the conduct of the fishing organization. However, the 
exemption would not apply to employees of a manufacturer of supplies or 
to employees of independent shops which repair boats and equipment. 
(Dize v. Maddix, 144 F. 2d 584, affirmed 324 U.S. 697.)