About this blog…
This is a dedication to the men, women, and fans of Discovery’s Deadliest Catch. When this show caught my eye a while back, I was introduced to a line of work and a lifestyle that could have existed on another planet for all I knew–it was that foreign to me! I imagine it is so for many others. However after immursing myself in the many Deadliest Catch connected topics–Alaska, crab fishing, other fisheries, the politics, the people, the Bering sea, etc… I’ve come to see that beneath the premise of the show, beneath the initial glimpse of the “deadliest job in the world” and what Discovery chooses to share with us, there are layers and layers of fascinating and sometimes mind-boggling details, stories, and elements of a little known world. And that is what this blog is all about…all of the Deadliest Catch Connections! Please enjoy…satiate your curiosity…correct me if I’m wrong…have some fun. If you’re like me, you either already have–or soon will–gain a higher degree of respect and admiration for the people who choose to live and work “on the edge”.
good luck on your first season im pulling for ya
Get site, keep up the great work! Thanks for all the info. I have been a DC fan since last season and like you, I had no idea about the goings on of the men and women of commercial fishing. I have nothing but the highest respect for them and I wish I was a strong enough human being to do what they do everyday!
I saw the show for the first time tonight - awesome! Brought back memories of sailing those treacherous waters in enroute the Arctic ice pack aboard the Coast Guard icebreaker USCGC POLAR SEA. When I saw Greg Moncrief, I had to wonder whether he might be the son of the POLAR SEA’s XO in 1982. Greg seems a natural mariner, as was my XO - exceptionally capable and ever calm. Thanks for giving us a glimpse into this fascinating world; thanks for the memories; and thanks for all the crab! May God favor the fleet with safety and fantastic fishing.
Safety update - well, courage anyway. It is on the rise. Readers might presume that crabbers’ greatest fears are at sea. Not so. At the Groundswell Fisheries Movement, we’ve been trying for 15 years - 10 on crab - to get some owners and skippers to get real courage and come face-to-face with federal law enforcement officials about the greatest risks. Price-fixing, racketeering, conspiracy are defined as getting your leg snapped off while putting your foot on a frozen rope while docking, only to get it caught in “the asshole”; fighting for freedom in spite the odds of hanging financially, and breaking free of the dollars. These fears far exceed the sea. But there is hope. After the Crab Ratz hearing on 90/10 split failures, earlier this month in Anchorage, it seems a few boat owners have finally figured out they have to go bear WITNESS with the feds. That fear faced, they may help revive hope for all against the price-fix mechanism called binding arbitration. Oh, but there was the one guy who about 8 years ago filed a suit about how they cheated him on crab and soothed his pain with promises on pollock, that evaporated. Funny. The sea gets them out there. The money keeps em there. And the fear of losing that might be the biggest motivator of all. Stay tuned as the crewmen - the real fearless - go after their historical 35-40% shares with increasing fury, and as both 70% lease rates and the coercive 90/10 thuggery goes to 0/100 under the guillotine of the Clayton antitrust act.
Beautiful weather here today in Kodiak.
Ciao - Stephen “Doc” T.
Useful stuff, good source I havenever seen used before
Hello there,
Really would like to beable to corrospond with that hot looking skipper Jeff Weeks and find out if he is available, for me……
So sorry, but he is taken.
I think most of those “hot skippers,” even the crew, are taken… but you can still fantasize…
Why do you always refer to crabbing as fishing. Here in Maryland when we go out for fish it’s called “Fishing” yet when we go out for crab we call it “Crabbing” not fishing.????
Chris