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Originally Posted by kane
It sounds like a pretty crazy, difficult life. I knew a little bit about it and have seen shows like deadliest catch, but with those shows they make it out like you go work for 8-12 weeks, make 60-80K then take the rest of the year off. Obviously most people don't do that.
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It's been a long time and seasons change yearly because its based on the quota and the number of boats registered to fish those quotas and their historic catch records... so things can be different right now or this season or whatever, but with crab, there a few main seasons.. there is Bairdi and Opelio (both are commonly known as "snow crab"). There are three main types of king crab - Blue, Brown and Red. Not many boats fish for brown king crab because they are very deep... but the guys I used to know that did it, did it all year long. I actually saw some in Whole Foods day before yesterday and they were calling it "Golden Crab". I think opelio is usually a short season still, like 5-6 weeks. Bairdi is longer but they are fewer and harder to catch. Those two seasons alone used to be pretty much most of the year but quotas got smaller in the late 90s/early 2000s as pressure increased on them. Blue king crab is usually about 2 weeks or so. Red king crab is short. Usually 2 weeks maybe. Then usually they will do other things like fish for cod with crab pots, they will tender salmon or herring for the fish processing plants, do halibut and other stuff. Bigger boats can't afford to do all the misc stuff because they will burn too much fuel/food and have bigger crews with smaller shares. Smaller boats (124' and smaller) often do. So with all that, there is also all the shipyard work.
On a side note that is sort of interesting... 1981 was the last big year for Red King Crab. Seasons were very long - months and months and they were getting several dollars a pound. People made huge money. Random felons who couldn't speak English could be walking down the dock and get a job just because a boat would be short a man and had to leave right then and there and that guy could make 30k or more a month. After that, they were gone and it was basically state-wide. Bering Sea side and Pacific side. just a massive die off. 1982 came and there was nothing. As far as I know, there is still no explanation for it. Same thing happened to a major shrimp fishery as well. Even today, Red King Crab seasons are basically very short... couple weeks or less.
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Six months later I get a call from the manager asking if I would consider coming back. He tells me he has gone through four people since I left and I was the best employee he ever had. I told him if he had said that while I worked there instead of always shitting on me as a way to impress the district manager and had he gone to bat for me to get me more money I might have stayed. While his call didn't really get me anything that would better my future, it did feel good knowing that he had finally realized my worth and I learned things while working there that I was able to use later down the road to help me make more money so it was a nice stepping stone that also helped me appreciate better jobs in the future.
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That's a great story. That's what i am talking about. As obnoxious or arrogant as i might sound, i have tremendous respect for anyone who will work hard and try their best to do a great job. I don't care what it is. Its just something i notice, whether its a 15yr old mopping a McDonald's floor or anyone else. I love to see people work hard and try. Those people will always do good in life and they will always be contributing much more than they take. They will never be complaining about why they deserve more... they will be working for more.