When Steve Martin saw one of his fellow workers fall into the cold water at the Blacks Harbour wharf last month, he didn’t hesitate to jump from the Atlantic Bay harvest vessel to rescue him.

His quick action and bravery are credited with saving the life of colleague Woodrow Gray and during AquaFair 2007 the captain of the Atlantic Bay was recognized with the Hero of the Year Award.

Cooke Aquaculture’s Michael Szemerda made the presentation during Friday’s luncheon at the Fairmont Algonquin and described what happened May 21. He said it was not every day that one of these awards was given out and he was honoured to do it.

Gray fell off the end of the wharf and on his way hit his head on the crane of the Atlantic Bay, knocking him unconscious. He was in the water and sinking when Martin came out of the wheelhouse, jumped into the water, swam down and got him, bringing him back up to the surface where a couple of people helped get him out of the water.

In recognition of his bravery, AquaFair 2007 presented Steve with a plaque and Cooke Aquaculture has given him a weekend for the whole family at the Ramada Inn and Crystal Palace in Moncton.

The family - he is the father of three children - have yet to take the trip. Martin, who is a little embarrassed by all the attention he has been getting, said he was coming in on the Atlantic Bay to tie up to get ice and was in the wheelhouse when he saw a man fall and hit his head on the side of the boat. He said there were two or three people on deck getting ready to tie the boat up and they tried to get him out of the water but he was sinking. “It was apparent to me he was not going to come back up. I took a quick look, jumped overboard and got him. I have my MED (marine emergency duties) and I am a swimmer. I knew what I had to do. There was nothing else you could do. I was in close enough to the wharf that I knew if I got close to him I could get him. It was very cold - around four degrees. I got him over to the ladder on the wharf and he came to and started spitting water so it was apparent he had come to. They put ropes on him and hauled him over. He was conscious by then and he had a hold of the ladder himself. I was quite cold myself - it took me about a day to warm up. Two of my crew took care of him and I wrapped myself in blankets.”

Martin himself ended up going to the hospital as well where they put him on oxygen because he had also swallowed some water but he was back at work for his next shift. He said he was talking to Gray last week and he will be off work for a while as his back is bad. He said Gray and his wife had sent him a thank-you card. He was kept in the dark about the award and said he didn’t know anything about it until he got a call around 9:30 a.m. Friday morning telling him his presence was requested at lunch time at the Fairmont Algonquin.

Born and raised on Deer Island, Martin said he has been on the water since he was 12 or 13 working on herring carriers and before that he went lobster fishing with his father. As a teenager he fished on George’s Bank but began working in the aquaculture industry by delivering feed. He joined Cooke Aquaculture in 2005 to work on the harvest vessel the Aqua Leader starting as first mate and then moving to captain. As the company expanded he was sent to Newfoundland to acquire and captain the Lady Cavell. From there he was moved to become captain of the harvest vessel the Atlantic Bay.