Commercial shellfishing in Alaska is thought to be one of the most dangerous jobs in the United States, but people who are good at it can make a lot of money. To do that though, takes fortitude, experience, perseverance, and a bit of luck.
Here, we’ll explore the vessel, the crew, the location and conditions needed to snag Alaska king crabs.
The icy turbulent waters of the Bering Sea are home to some of the most dangerous and rewarding fishing in the world. Crab fishermen risk their lives during the brief king crab season racing against time and each other to haul in as much of the lucrative catch as they can. But just how long does this intense and dramatic season last?
The Deadliest Job Around
Commercial crab fishing in the Bering Sea is a massive industry, with the red king crab fishery alone valued at over $100 million annually. But the huge demand for crab comes at a steep price for the hardy crews who sail out into the stormy Bering.
Working the icy decks of a crab boat has been called the “deadliest job in America” Capsizing waves, heavy machinery, and brutal weather conditions lead to frequent injuries, accidents, and even fatalities Since 2000, over 80 fishermen have lost their lives to the unforgiving sea.
The risks inherent to Alaskan king crab fishing are what led the Discovery Channel to create Deadliest Catch in 2005. The Emmy-nominated reality show documents the harrowing world of crab boats and their crews during king crab season. Audiences are given an inside look at the dangers, drama, and dedication required to brave the Bering and earn a lucrative payday.
How Long Does King Crab Season Last?
So just how long are the captains and crews of Deadliest Catch out on the water, battling the elements to fill their quotas? The answer isn’t straightforward.
Unlike other fishing seasons that have a fixed start and end date, the Alaskan king crab season varies significantly in length each year. A number of factors determine when a boat will return to port:
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Individual boat quotas: Before the season starts, each boat receives a quota from the Alaskan government dictating how many pounds of crab they are allowed to catch. Fast, lucky boats might fill their quota within days, while others take weeks or months.
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Crab migration patterns: The crews have to sail to where the king crab are congregating. If they miss the hot spots, it takes longer to find and trap the elusive crabs.
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Weather and ocean conditions: Treacherous winter storms in the Bering can force the boats to halt fishing for days at a time until the seas calm down.
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Boat size and storage capacity: Smaller boats fill up faster and have to return to port to offload more frequently than larger vessels. Many boats can store hundreds of thousands of pounds of crab in their holds.
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Mechanical issues: Breakdowns with the boats or equipment can cause major delays.
Grueling Days at Sea
In the early days of Alaskan crab fishing, boats would embark on marathon seasons lasting 6 months or more. Today, however, most vessels dock for offloading and resupplying every 4 to 6 weeks.
Crews work around the clock when out on the fishing grounds, often enduring 18+ hour days of hard, dangerous labor. The money can be lucrative if the fishing goes well, but conditions are brutal. Icy sea spray constantly drenches the decks, and crews must push through exhaustion, injuries, and the knowledge that one mistake could cost them their lives.
Hauling in the Catch
The captains and crews certainly earn every dollar during king crab season. But their payout depends entirely on how much crab they can bring back. Here are some figures showing what kind of catch is at stake during their weeks or months at sea:
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The red king crab quota for 2022 was set at 3.8 million pounds. At around $10 per pound, that represents almost $40 million worth of crab!
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An average king crab weighs 6-8 pounds. So filling a 300,000 pound quota requires trapping, hauling, and storing around 40,000-50,000 individual crabs.
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Each crab boat trap holds around 80-100 crabs. So 800+ traps need to be dropped and recovered during the season.
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In a good season, a boat can bring in $1 million or more in profit. But costs like fuel, supplies, maintenance and crew shares eat into those earnings significantly.
Future of the Fishery
After years of declining crab populations, the 2022-2023 season saw Alaska’s red king crab fishery open for the first time in 3 years. However, the quota was set at a historically low level, and scientists warn the fishery faces an uncertain future in the changing Bering Sea ecosystem.
As climate change accelerates, increasing water temperatures and decreases in sea ice are negatively impacting crab numbers. Early research points to their difficulty surviving through larval stages as a key factor in the population decline. It remains to be seen whether future warming trends will make Alaska’s iconic king crab fishery unsustainable.
For now, seasoned boats and crews will continue to set out into the stormy Bering Sea each fall. Braving the frigid winds and treacherous waves during king crab season is a decades-old Alaska tradition. It provides livelihoods for fishermen and communities across the state, despite taking a tragic human toll.
The brave men and women who choose to take on the Bering each year understand the huge risks involved. But the chance at a massive payday keeps them coming back season after season. Wherever king crab season 2023 takes them, you can be sure that Deadliest Catch cameras will be there to document the unpredictable, emotional, and always dangerous work of crab fishing on Alaska’s wild frontier.
Russian King Crab Controversy
Around the end of the 1950s, Russian scientists started a number of projects to bring king crab to the Barents sea. This initiative was successful, populating the Barents sea today with around 20 million king crabs. This has also led to a giant influx of Russian king crab imported into the US market.
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Where to Find King Crab
Outside the refuge and warmth of a crab fishing vessel lies deep waters and freezing temperatures. Though people who do it for a living say the reward is worth the risk and the hard, careful work So where do these crews find king crab? In general, it’s in the waters around Alaska and Russia, but each type of crab has its own region and home. Stocks of blue king crab are typically found off the Pribilof Islands and St. Matthew Island. They usually get caught between 600 feet of water and the intertidal zone, which is the part of the ocean that is dry at low tide and wet at high tide. The Aleutian-Adak Islands are home to the golden king crab, which lives in deeper water, between 600 and 1,600 feet. The fishers mark the depth of each pot with a buoy for identification. Like blue king crabs, red king crabs like to live on ocean bottoms that are flatter and made up of sand and silt that are 120 to 600 feet deep. Of all the king crab, red king crab is the most sought after for commercial use. Red king crabs are also less aggressive than blue or golden king crab. In Alaska, the Gulf of Alaska, the Sea of Okhotsk, the Pribilof Islands, and along the Kamchatka shelf are all places where red king crabs can be found. In general, king crabs are sensitive to water temperature and like it when it’s cold, so a red king crab may move a mile every day. Red and blue king crab tend to go from shallow water to deep water each year.
However, the season will depend on the fishing rules or quotas set for the year. Usually, king crab fishing happens in the winter, from October to January. Most people who fish for Alaska king crab use something called a “pot,” which is a steel trap with a square frame and a wire mesh cover. These pots can weigh anywhere from 600-800 pounds each. Depending on the size of the fishing boat, crews will have between 150 and 300 pots per boat. Larger fishing boats of 100 feet or more average around 250 pots.
Pots are thought to be less harmful to the seafloor than moving equipment because they stay in one place and don’t affect a large area. Also, the big king crab pots are less likely to damage crabs’ homes in sand and soft sediments than other types of habitat.
People who fish for king crab like to stay close to the edges of the ice because the crabs like it cold. King crab are usually lured with herring or codfish, which are, ironically, two fish that eat king crab. The bait is put into the pot, and then powerful hydraulic systems lower it to the bottom of the sea. Most of the time, these pots are lined up to make it easier to pull them back up. Buoys are used to mark their spot above the water. After 1-2 days in the sea, the pot is raised back up to the surface and sorted through. On the boat, it’s unloaded to a general sorting area where deckhands determine king crabs within regulation. Those that don’t meet the requirements will be put back in the water. The rest that are kept will be kept in a live tank until the boat gets back to shore.
When fishing for Alaska King Crab, certain legal requirements must be met — the majority of which revolve around crab size and the fishing season. For example, only the male Alaska King Crab can be kept, and quota limits are strictly enforced. Any violator of these laws receive hefty fines in the hundreds of thousands. (Check out Alaska Commercial Fisheries for entry information.) The reason for these regulations is to sustain the crab and fish population. The State of Alaska has also instituted minimum size and sex restrictions, vessels registration, seasons, observer requirements, and gear restrictions. Each year, crab boats are aksi given an individual quota based on prior years’ catches and the estimated biomass. Fisheries are managed by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. To address the needs of Alaskan crab fisheries, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council has developed a Crab Rationalization Program. The program is intended to address the conservation issues associated with the overfishing caused by derby fishing, reduce bycatch and associated discard mortality, and increase the safety of crab fishermen/women by ending the race for fish.
Northwestern’s King Crab Season So Far | NEW Deadliest Catch
Is king crab fishing dangerous?
However, Alaskan king crab fishing is considered even more dangerous than the average commercial fishing job, due to the conditions on the Bering Sea during the seasons when they fish for crab.
When is Deadliest Catch on Discovery?
It’s the deadliest job on earth: crab fishing off the Alaskan coast on the icy Bering Sea. The two-hour season premiere of #DeadliestCatch is on Tuesday, April 18 at 8p on Discovery and streaming on discovery+. Never in Deadliest Catch history has red king crab fishing been entirely shut down. Meet Mandy Hansen’s Baby, Sailor!
When will Deadliest Catch return?
Deadliest Catch, the reality television series that follows crab fishermen aboard fishing vessels will return next April, despite the red king crab season being closed by Alaskan authorities.
What will happen to Deadliest Catch?
Deadliest Catch executive producer Arom Starr-Paul says it will be for “other sustainable Bering Sea crab and pot fisheries, such as golden king crab, bairdi and cod.” After two seasons missing red king crab fishery and the Bering Sea snow crab, audiences are curious to know – and watch – what will happen to Deadliest Catch.