Artifact of the Month: June 2023

Quarantine, Stay Clear!

The international maritime quarantine flag is used to signal disease in both ships and ports, and may be used during a pandemic. The quarantine flag, also known as a "Lima" flag, is black and yellow. Its counterpart is the solid yellow "Quebec" flag indicating the vessel or port are disease free.

Bruce Alexander flew this flag on his gillnetter F/V Overcomer during the 2020 fishing season. Bruce is based in Washington and has come to Ketchikan to commercially fish for salmon in the summer since 1996. Out-of-state fishermen, like Bruce, were required to sail quarantine flags when they arrived in Alaska during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the first time in all his years of fishing that he flew a quarantine flag.

This flag is made out of synthetic brailer bag mesh by NOMAR, a maritime supply company based in Homer, Alaska. It's a great representation of how the fishing industry had to quickly adapt to changes brought on by the pandemic.
Object ID #: KM 2021.2.54.1

Photo caption: The F/V Overcomer flying the quarantine flag in 2020 while in isolation on Pennock. Photo by museum staff.