Toll Put at Four in Fishing Boat Sinking off O.C.

They work long hours for little pay on rickety boats that often lack basic safety equipment.

That portrait of a gill-net fisherman’s risky existence emerged Thursday as authorities continued their investigation into the sinking of a fishing boat in a busy shipping lane 10 miles off the coast here.

Coast Guard officials said Thursday that four men apparently were on board the 45-foot fishing vessel Tammy, which was based in Los Angeles Harbor.

The bodies of two--Nhieu Van Nguyen, 52, a licensed fisherman from El Monte, and Khanh Nguyen, 50, of Alhambra--were recovered amid boat debris Tuesday morning. The discovery set off a daylong air and sea search by the Coast Guard, but the vessel and the other two bodies have not been found.

The boat’s owner, Cong Minh Ta, 54, of San Gabriel, is missing and presumed dead, officials said.

Authorities identified the fourth man as Gioi Nguyen, 59, of San Pedro, a sometime fishing partner of the other victims, whose son reported him missing.

None of the victims were related, officials said.

Four vessels had passed through the shipping corridor overnight Monday and will be examined for signs of a collision when they reach port, officials said.

As authorities sought to determine what happened to the Tammy, relatives and seamen described the risky existence of gill-net fishermen.

“People are always writing about cops getting killed, but this happens to us all the time,” said Andy Stanojevich, a San Pedro fisherman who sails from the same port where the Tammy used to dock. “It’s a much higher risk occupation.”

A state ban on gill-net fishing, which went into effect on Jan. 1 but has been tied up by lawsuits, has forced the fishermen--who anchor long nets in the sea floor to snare fish and sea cucumbers--into deeper waters.

Many of the estimated 300 fishing boats docked in Los Angeles Harbor are said to be poorly maintained and to lack good lighting and navigational equipment for work that often goes on at night so that the fishermen can reach the market by morning.

Coast Guard inspector F.L. McClain said federal regulations require safety gear, such as life jackets and emergency beacons, but boat inspections are not mandatory.

“On the average they’re in really bad shape,” said Coast Guard Petty Officer Randy Reid. “Just being on board for a short time, I’m always worried for my safety--wondering whether it’s going to sink.”

Close calls with the mammoth freighters and tankers that travel the same waters are part of everyday life, prompting suspicions among fishermen that the Tammy sank after a collision.

“It’s a ritual for (the ships) to come as close as they can,” said fisherman Bob Aguilar. “It’s like they do it on purpose.”

Nhieu Van Nguyen, whose body was recovered Tuesday, knew those perils better than anyone, his family said in interviews Thursday. He escaped with a broken rib when a boat he owned sank three years ago after being struck by a steamer, according to friends and relatives. Nguyen was listed as a skipper for two other fishing boats. Both of them sank this year, but he was not aboard either one, investigators said.

“Nhieu was fishing for his whole life,” said younger brother Kieu Nguyen, 34, of San Gabriel. The brothers moved from Vietnam 12 years ago. “When we came here, I told him I could get him another job, doing gardening or cleaning. But he said, ‘No. Only fishing.’ ”

Ta, the owner of the Tammy, bought the 30-year-old, steel-hulled vessel last fall and poured $30,000 into making it suitable for gill-net fishing, friends said. Nhieu Nguyen was always at his side.

During the repair, a Coast Guard inspector cited Ta once for leaking diesel fuel into the harbor, and an inspector who went aboard the docked boat urged him to stop welding because the boat lacked working fire extinguishers, authorities said. Work on the boat was finished last spring.

“They worked on the boat for about six months,” said Liem Nguyen, 21, Nhieu’s only daughter. “He thought it was just like new.”

In keeping with Vietnamese tradition, Kieu Nguyen will hang a picture of his older brother beside incense, fruit and a statue of Buddha in his San Gabriel home after Saturday’s funeral.

Kieu Nguyen said he had not seen his brother in about three weeks and learned of his death through television reports. Nhieu Van Nguyen lived most recently in El Monte, but he often stayed with friends elsewhere in the San Gabriel Valley.

“Sometimes I didn’t know where he was staying,” Kieu Nguyen said. “But if I wanted to see him, I’d just go to the docks.”

Times staff writer Susan Woodward contributed to this story.