A few weeks ago, I was talking about the Discovery show “Deadliest Catch.” In that blog, I left you with the fact that the injury rate on a crab fishing boat is almost 100% and that if you worked on a crab boat, your chances of dying is almost 30% higher than that of the average worker. The pilot episode of “Deadliest Catch” said that during the main crab seasons, that almost one fisherman is lost each week the crews are out.
What causes such a high rate for injuries and causalities? Those on the boat (including the captain) often work for hours on end without much rest. I am talking 36 hours straight, since most of the boats are fitted with huge lights, so the crew works day and night. The sea conditions also make for a dangerous job. Add exertion and fatigue on top of icy sea water (which often freezes in midair as it breaks over the boat), a rogue wave (a single wave that can be as high as ten stories), handling 10,000 pound pots (which are used to catch the crab), ropes (which can wrap around your arm or leg and drag you down into the ocean), and other conditions which threaten to capsize the boat, and you have a very deadly job, despite all the safety measures taken. And once you are in the water, even if you manage to get on your survival suit, there is precious little time to get you out before you succumb to the freezing water.
So, why do guys fish in the Bering Sea or anywhere else for that matter? As I said in the last blog, the money is good. Deckhands make a large amount of money in a short amount of time. But, it seems that many fisherman do it because it is in their blood. The Northwestern is run by three brothers – Sig, Norman, and Edgar Hansen. It was their father, Snifred, who christened the Northwestern in 1977. The same goes for the brothers of the Time Bandit – Johnathan, Neal, and Andy Hillstrand. Their father was a fisherman as well, having the Time Bandit built specifically so his sons could take it over one day. On the Cornelia Marie, you can find Captain Phil Harris and his two sons, deckhands Jake and Josh. On the Wizard, there are brothers Keith and Monte Colburn. For many of these guys, their earliest childhood memories are of fishing and the sea.
Since “Deadliest Catch” started airing back in 2005, it has gathered a strong fan base. Both men and women admire the hard work and danger involved in the job. This has made many of the fishermen featured on “Deadliest Catch” celebrities, whether it was a desired effect or not. You can purchase gear for your favorite boat online, you can tune into the Discovery web page to chat about the latest episode, and you can even read the story about the Hillstrand brothers in their book “Time Bandit: Two Brothers, the Bering Sea, and One of the World’s Deadliest Jobs,” which I am currently reading!