It's the deadliest job on earth: crab fishing off the Alaska
coast on the icy Bering Sea, home of the most violent waters on
earth. During the five-day "season" a handful of adventurers will
battle Arctic weather, brutal waves, and a ticking clock for a
chance at big money in this modern day gold rush. Working around
the clock, and often going days without , this unique breed
of men, part adventurer part fisherman, will set out upon an
unforgettable odyssey. Sadly, all of them may not return. The
world's last gold rush is coming to an end after this season.
Starting in 2005 the Department of Fish and Game will give each
boat a quota that they may catch at their leisure. This will be
the last time King Crab will ever be fished in a frantic derby
style. In Crabs 2005, ten one hour episodes will chronicle the
struggle and adventure of six boats and their crews as they race
against time to catch all the crab they can.
Episodes:
Green Horns - It's the first day of work at the world's most
deadliest job. 1500 fishermen have converged on Dutch Harbor
Alaska for the beginning of the 2005 Alaskan King Crab season.
Each man is here to stake his cl on the fourteen million, two
hundred and sixty-seven-thousand pounds of Alaskan King Crab and
the chance at earning a years wages in just one week. There are
251 boats and 251 Captains with their own strategies for success
in the high seas, high stakes business of crab fishing. Old Salts
and novices known as greenhorns, make up the crews. One greenhorn
is Bradford Davis, a 19-year old college kid proving that he is
ready to take on any challenge, while another, is Eric
Abrahamson, a 42-year old man looking for the challenge of a
lifetime. Fisherman Kevin Davis is just happy for the chance to
return. He survived falling overboard last season and now he is
back to face his demons and the unrelenting Bering Sea.With a
radio countdown, the season begins and the first pots are dumped
into the sea. It will be many hours before all the pots are set
and even longer before anyone rests. But soon after the start,
for The Lucky Lady¹s stabilizer breaks forcing them to fish with
a potentially deadly problem. For the other crews, its fish guts
and crab pots as they desperately grasp for their piece of the 80
million dollar King Crab pie.
less Nights - After a long less night of baiting and
setting crab pots, the fisherman anxiously await the captain's
call to begin fishing. Each captain has a different theory on
what is the optimal soak time for maximum crab. The first pot
pulled of the season sets the mood. Some boats are on the crab,
while others are pulling blanks. The early losers, like the
Fierce Allegiance, agonize over strategy hoping to make up for a
lost catch. Who's got crab and where are they is the question?
Winners, like the Northwestern, try to figure out how to keep the
crab coming. But for the Western Viking. Its still not time to
fish. The Viking has broken bin boards in the storage tank and
this present a dangerous environment for the crabs. It has to be
fixed, before they can pull in their first pot. Time spent fixing
costs this crew serious money. The greenhorns learn quickly, that
there's no sympathy.
Lady Luck - Its hour 42 of the 2005 Alaskan king crab season and
all of the boats in the fleet have dropped their pots. Every
captain feels the pressure. They either find crab today or give
up their chance at a profitable season. Captain Sig Hansen of the
Northwestern is nervous about the spot he's chosen to fish and
decides to gamble on a new location. Captain Tony Larussa and the
crew of the Fierce Allegiance are feeling the effects of over 40
hours of continuous work, with no crab. On Captain Vince
Shavender boat, the Lucky Lady, finding crab is not the problem;
his Greenhorn, Kevin Davis, injured his ankle and can't work the
deck which forces Captain Vince to make some tough decisions. No
one has problems like Captain Coleman Anderson and the Western
Viking. They've spent more time fixing the boat, then catching
crab and now Captain Coleman's crew are questioning their
leadership. As each boat faces their individual challenges, the
Alaskan Department of Fish and Game announces an early closure to
the season. Each boat has 24 hours to pull the pots they have in
the water out. Every one of the final pots counts. The last
strings can affect these men and their families for the entire
next year.
Beat the Clock - With less than half a day left in the Alaskan
King Crab Season, all of the crews are racing the clock to get as
much crab into the holding tank before the season closes at
midnight. The Fierce Allegiance has finally landed their pots on
some crab, but it will take a lot of crab to cover the operating
expenses of the largest boat in the fleet. On the Northwestern,
Captain Sig's gamble to move his gear has paid off and they'll
finish the season with a solid performance. Greenhorn Bradford
Davis completes his first King Crab season with the respect of
his crew, including the hard-driving Deck boss, Edgar Hansen. The
challenges of heavy seas and inexperience make fishing difficult
for The Lucky Lady. Kevin Davis's ankle injury and inexperience
on the hydraulics make it difficult to fish in the rough seas. On
the Western Viking, Captain Coleman Anderson's luck never turns.
He can't keep his boat fishing long enough to fill the tanks, and
mechanical malfunctions cost him and his crew the season. His
troubles continue all the way until after the crab is unloaded.
As the midnight deadline closes the Alaskan Crab Fishing season,
the race to unload begins. Boats are unloaded at the processing
s on a first come first serve basis. A couple minutes can
mean the difference between unloading immediately, and waiting at
anchor in the harbor for days to unload.
Dead of Winter - It is the dead of winter in Dutch Harbor, Alaska
where the days are a mere 6 hours long. The forecast for crab
fishing is cold and dangerous. Opilio crab season is just about
to begin. On a cold rainy January day, 171 boats begin the long
journey up to 450 miles Northwest of Dutch Harbor, Alaska.
Shortly after leaving port, smoke and heat are discovered on the
Lady Alaska. Captain Peter Liske is forced to surrender valuable
time to turn around and fix it. They solve their electrical
problem, but their troubles are far from over. An EPIRB, or
emergency signal, rings out from Peter's partner boat the Big
Valley. The Coast Guard immediately respond despite the unsafe
flight conditions, but Peter and his crew are too far away to
help--All they can do is pray. Six good Samaritan boats,
including the husband and wife team of the Maverick, join the
Coast Guard and launch themselves into search mode hoping to find
any sign of the Big Valley and its crew. Outside the search grid,
danger is on the horizon. Gale warnings buzz over the radio
alerting captains of treacherous ice conditions. Captain Sig
Hansen, of the Northwestern, has to protect the crab pots
Man Overboard - The 2005 Opilio season didn't start it stumbled!
The Big Valley sunk and its crew are still missing. "Good
Samaritan" boats like the Maverick, and its' Captain Rick
Quashnick, continue to postpone their season as they search the
frigid waters of the Bering Sea for survivors. Captain Peter
Liske of the Lady Alaska continue to try and comprehend the
tragedy. In a heartfelt prayer, Peter dedicates the season to
their memory and asks God to bless his crew as they set their
pots. Over 400 miles to the North, near the Russian border,
Captain Jim Stone of the Retriever and Captain Sig Hansen of the
Northwestern are too far to help with the search and rescue. On
the own, each captain decides that it is best to keep the tragic
news from their crews so their minds will stay on baiting and
setting pots. Farther South, Captain Jeff Weeks of the Billikin
sees the tragedy as a reminder of how dangerous this job can. On
the Vixen, rookie Captain, Shaun Miles, feels the pressure and
responsibility for his own crew. Shaun also has the added stress
of working under the watchful eye of the boat's owner, Mike Wahl,
who is onboard working as a deckhand. As the remaining 170 boats
in the fleet turn their attention to fishing, tragedy strikes
again. A frantic call comes in over the radio from a boat whose
deckhand has fallen overboard. The reality of another death
strikes a nervous chord throughout the fleet and keeps everyone
on the edge as the continue to chase America's deadliest c...
High Hopes - It is a little over 12 hours since the Opilio Crab
Season opened, and the Bering Sea has already cled 6 lives.
Despite these losses, the rest of the fleet begins to pull the
pots they set 12 hours before. Their hopes are high as they
approach the first strings of pots. Captain Sig Hansen of the
Northwestern is betting on an area far North, near the Russian
border that records show yield crab. His nerves are tested as
their first pots show no sign of life, but his concern is quickly
erased as the pots start coming up full of crab. Captain Jeff
Weeks of the Billikin, a top producer for the last 3 Opilio
seasons, feels the pressure when the only sign of life in his
first pots is cod fish. Jeff and his co-captain Jim Hilt haggle
over which of them has better luck finding the crab, but the
arguing ends when the crab starts pulling aboard. Captain Peter
Liske, a devoutly religious man, prays for the souls of his lost
friends, and for the lives of his crew, before pulling his pots.
His religious conviction keeps his crew focused on the task at
hand; crab fishing. Though the quality of the crab they catch is
mixed, The Lady Alaska is grateful for their bounty. After
spending 6 hours in the search and rescue effort for the Big
Valley, The Maverick's Captain Rick Quashnick took a big risk by
setting his pots much farther south than the rest of the fleet.
The Maverick's sacrifice during the rescue effort is repaid when
Captain Rick's southern fishing ground produces full pots of
crab...
Good Fishing - It's the third day of the 2005 Opilio crab season
on the Bering Sea. Unseasonably warm weather and calm seas have
contributed to record catches for the fleet. Captain Sig Hansen
and the crew of the Northwestern landed on the crab early and
cranked through their gear at a feverish pace filling two of the
boats three holds. The 92-foot Maverick also hit pay dirt right
from the start. Skipper Rick Quashnick's decision to fish
Southern waters pays off big and he fills his boat early enough
to off load his tanks and go out for more. On the Retriever, it's
not all smooth sailing. An Electrical fire breaks out in the
engine room and everyone's safety is jeopardized. They shut down
work and scramble to fix the problem so they can safely get back
to fishing. As the fourth day of fishing gets under weigh, high
numbers of crab throughout the fleet spur rumors of an early
closure and every captain speculates on when the quota will be
met.
The Clock's Ticking - The 2005 Opelio crab season has been open
for 84hrs and the hunt for crab is intensifying. Rumors of a
possible closure prompt the men to push even harder. After many
blank pots, Captain Jim Stone of the Retriever decides, to give
up on the Northern fishing grounds and join the successful boats
in the South. Prayers are answered for Captain Peter Liske and
the men of the Lady Alaska as they start to pull in hefty pots of
snow crab. Peter hopes to fill his tanks before time runs out as
the closure announcement looms in the air. The Billikin crew has
finally found their honey hole and Captain Jeff Weeks hopes that
the season will last at least two more days to make up for their
slow start. On the Maverick, Captain Rick Quashnick's good
fortune continuce, but igue amongst his crew is a major
concern. Far to the North, the Northwestern is high on crab as
they fill their tanks beyond capacity and begin wondering where
they can put excess crab. They decide to construct a tank on deck
to satisfy the crew's greed. The pending season closure keeps the
men driving forward. This is the last time they will fish in a
derby-style competiton and everyone wants to make their final run
a memorable one.
The Final Run - With the deaths of the Big Valley crew, this
January Opelio crab season has been a rough one. On every boat,
crewmembers are reaching their limit, but the pressure to catch a
years wages in the next 24 hours keeps them going. On The
Billikin, Captain Jeff Week's reputation of being a top boat is
in jeopardy and his crew will be lucky to get half their usual
paycheck. Captain Jim Stone of the Retriever is not fairing much
better and he hopes this last 24 hours will save him from a
rotten season. A few miles away from the Retriever is the
Northwestern under the command of Captain Sig Hansen. Captain
Sig. has a very good problem-too much crab for his boat. Instead
of calling it a day, Sig and his crew build a contraption on deck
to hold more crab. Its risky work, but the crew decide that fifty
extra grand from a deck load is worth it. Fishing near St. Paul
island is the Maverick. Captain Rick has already offloaded once
and now has a full boat again. Captain Pete Liske of the Lady
Alaska is still praying to finish his season above average and to
do so, he needs these final pots to pull up a miracle. As the
last hours of the season tick down, a new race begins-the race
back to port. Captains strategize once again to figure out when
and where to offload. Since offloading is done on a
first-come-first-serve basis captains are competing for the best
spot in line at the processor. Crab can't last forever in a boat,
so a few days waiting could mean tens of thousands of dollars.