Crab Fishing!

Where do you find a crab with no legs?

Exactly where you left it!

Crab Fishing

Alaskan king crab fishing is carried out during the winter months in the waters off the coast of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. The commercial harvest is performed during a very short season, and the catch is shipped worldwide. Large numbers of king crab are also caught in Russian and international waters.

Crab Fishing Types of commercially valuable king crab

In Alaska, three species of king crab are caught commercially: the red king crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus, found in Bristol Bay, Norton Sound, and the Kodiak Archipelago), blue king crab (Paralithodes platypus, St. Matthew Island and the Pribilof Islands), and golden king crab (Lithodes aequispinus, Aleutian Islands). The red king crab is the most prized of the three for its meat. A fourth variety of king crab, the scarlet king crab, is too small and rare to be commercially viable, even though its meat is considered sweet and tasty. Specific size requirements must be met: only certain types of crabs are legal at different times of the year and only males can be kept. Maximum quotas must not be exceeded; stiff fines are imposed on violators.

Crab Fishing season

The most popular crabbing months are October and January. The season for each crab can be very short the season for red king crab is currently four days, having been reduced repeatedly in previous years. In the winter 2005-2006 season, 250 boats caught 14 million pounds of red king crab in four days.

Crab Fishing Equipment and process

Commercial fishing boats are between 40 and 250 feet in length, are equipped with hydraulic systems to lift the catch, and are able to withstand the freezing weather of the Bering Sea. Each fishing boat sets its own sailing schedule during the crabbing season, sometimes staying out for days or weeks at a time.

Fishermen use a steel box-shaped trap consisting of a steel frame covered with a wire mesh called a pot. Each pot weighs 600-800 pounds and a ship may carry 200 or 300 pots. Fish, usually herring or codfish, are placed inside as bait and then the pot is sunk to the sea floor where the crabs reside. Red and blue king crabs can be found anywhere between the inter tidal zone and a depth of 100 fathoms (180 m). Golden King Crabs live in depths between 100 and 400 fathoms (180 and 720 m). The location of the pot is marked on the surface by a buoy which is later used for retrieval. After allowing the pots to rest on the sea floor (typically one to two days for red and blue king crabs, longer for golden king crabs), the pots are dragged back to the surface using a hydraulic crane on the fishing boat.

The crabs in the pots are sorted once they are brought to the surface, and any not meeting the regulation requirements are thrown back. The crabs are typically stored live in a holding tank until the boat reaches shore, where they are sold. If the weather becomes too cold, the live crabs may freeze and burst. If they are left alone in the tank for too long, they will harm and possibly kill each other, as they can be cannibalistic.

Deckhands are paid a percentage of the profits after the owner's share is taken into account. This can range from nothing to tens of thousands of dollars, depending on the success of the boat. The so-called 'greenhorns' (deckhands in their first season of fishing) get a fixed amount of money.

Crab Fishing Danger

Alaskan crab fishing is one of the USA's most dangerous jobs. In 2005, the Bureau of Labor Statistics ranked commercial fishing as the job occupation with the highest fatality rate with 118.4 fatalities per 100,000, almost 30 times the rate of the average worker. However, Alaskan crab fishing specifically is even more dangerous with over 300 fatalities per 100,000. Over 80 percent of these deaths are caused by drowning or hypothermia. The fishermen are also susceptible to crippling injuries obtained from working with heavy machinery and gear.

Crab Fishing Population decline

At the peak of the king crab industry in 1980, some Alaskan fisheries produced up to 200 million pounds of crab. However, by 1983, the total size of the catch had dropped almost sixty-fold. Several theories for the precipitous drop in the crab population have been proposed, including overfishing, warmer waters, and increased fish predation, but the true cause remains a mystery. The slow harvest forced many fishermen to diversify and catch tanner crabs (such as the bairdi and opilio) or cod. In recent years, strict regulations have been enforced in order to responsibly manage the populations and allow them to rebound. The red and blue king crab population has stayed relatively low in almost all areas except Southeast Alaska since 1983, forcing many fishermen to concentrate on the Golden King Crab.

Crab Fishing In the media

Deadliest Catch is a documentary-style series aired by the Discovery Channel beginning in 2005. The show highlights the dangers of king crab fishing: the waters are freezing, the pots that must be dragged up can weigh well over a ton when full, and, since the season is short both because of regulations and the weather fishermen spend days at a time on very rough seas working long hours with little rest time.