A crab fisherman is recovering in hospital after getting caught in his gear and being pulled under water for minutes off an island near Prince Rupert.

The incident happened around 12:20 p.m. Tuesday, according to the Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue. The fisherman had been under roughly 10 metres of water for three to four minutes near Smith Island.

“His crew reacted quickly and recovered by pulling back on ground line,” the local search station said in a post on social media.

A mayday was issued, and the search and rescue station deployed three members to the scene.

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The Charles Hays, a Prince Rupert Port Authority patrol vessel, was already there, and the Canadian Coast Guard arrived to assist as well. The fisherman was unresponsive when he was brought on board.

“The patient was given first aid and whisked to port side where there met the BC EHS [Emergency Health Services] and they got him to the hospital,” said Paul Cumberland, director of administration RCM-SAR.

The local search station said in the post that crew visited the man at 5 p.m. at the Prince Rupert Regional Hospital and he was doing much better.

“It was a good bit of cooperation with vessel of opportunity [Charles Hays], Coast Guard, RCM-SAR all looking after the patient. I think it was a great effort on everybody’s part,” Cumberland said.

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