More crabs, bigger profits: The new rules have boosted crab numbers - and profits, according to Campbell. But "since we went to a quota-share system, the danger factor went way down." "It's still a very dangerous job," said Campbell. The crews pull the traps every 36 to 48 hours, instead of every 12 to 24 hours so the process is less frenzied. Nearly two-thirds of the 73 crab fishing fatalities recorded in the 1990s were from capsizing. No longer overloaded, they're less likely to capsize. I thought, 'That fishing wasn't so bad.'"įor 15 years, Campbell learned the ropes under the old system.īesides being bigger and safer on rough seas, the boats carry fewer traps.
"Then, I got a check for the three months worth of fishing I did that winter. When he returned to his home in Washington State, he was exhausted and battered. "They piled on more jobs than usually given to a greenhorn. "So he brought me up to Alaska in the dead of winter and told his crew to lay into me," he said. At first, his dad, also a crab boat captain, did not want him to go into the business. In 2010, it lasted more than 20 days.Ĭaptain Scott Campbell Jr., one of the crab boat skippers appearing on "Deadliest Catch" has worked in the industry since he was 18. In 2004, the season for Bristol Bay red king crab lasted just three days before the quota was reached, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. If there's a storm or a mechanical problem, the catch waits. Crabbers don't have to go out during storms or work on little-to-no sleep. With so many captains buying up other crabbers' quotas, the number of crab boats has shrunk to just over 60 from more than 250 at its peak and the boats now are mostly bigger - and safer. The quotas can be bought, sold and even leased, so crab captains are able to acquire the shares of other boats. About 80% of crab fishery fatalities are from drowning.īut in 2006, a new catch-share (also called a quota-share) system was put in place by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council and the State of Alaska, which co-manage the fishery.Įach boat received its own quota to fill during the three-month season.
Even in a survival suit, designed to provide insulation from cold water, death can come before help arrives. Ice can coat boat decks, 700-pound cages being winched aboard can lurch and sweep workers overboard. Most crabbing takes place in the unforgiving Bering Sea. Everyone fished as fast as they could until the quota for the entire fleet was reached. During the derbies, some boats could pull in hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of crab - half their annual wage - in a few days, while latecomers could come out with nothing.
0 kommentar(er)
