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Deadliest Catch
Crabbing on the Bering Sea is the world's most dangerous job. So intones Mike Rowe somberly on each episode. The crab fishing season is a perilous shuffle between dangers for the prize - pots full of crab. Unfortunately the strains of fishing the Bering Sea leads to the loss of life. Just like it's paperclipped to the Discovery Channel's promo: "Go from fisherman to bait in one false move."
This lens is an introduction to the Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch. I'll direct you to more resources and additional information about our shared obsession. When not being bleeped, the crewman manage to hand down some gems between the exhaustion and pain.
Watch and be amazed as crab relieves all that ails these fishermen.
Crab Fishing in Alaska
Finding riches in a crab pot
There are four species of king crab in Alaska: brown(golden), blue, red and scarlet. The most familiar are the red king crab. The scarlet, while reportedly sweet tasting are too few in number for commercial fishing. The number of King crab caught has collapsed in the last 30 years from over 100 million pounds in the late seventies to the current levels of around 18.5 million pounds. The Kodiak area, a once prodigious crab producer has yet to recover since being closed in 1983. Other formerly productive fisheries have also been closed in the hopes that they recover their viability. King crab are not the only species being targeted. Oplilio (snow), Tanner, Dungeness and Hair crabs are commercially fished. Here is a general map of the Alaskan crab fisheries.
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (an agency of the Federal Government) sets the fishing seasons. During the first season of Deadliest Catch it was derby rules for fishing. A season open date and time was set. It closed based on an estimate of when the fishing fleet would reach the season's quota. The crews worked almost non-stop hauling in crab as fast as they could catch them. Each ship's captain had only the roughest estimate of how long they would be able to fish.
Today each fishing vessel is assigned a quota by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. It's up to each ship to fill their quota in the time they are alloted. The rule changes brought controversy and unhappiness to the local independent fishing industry. Dutch Harbor is where the majority of fishing vessels that crab are based out of during the season. You can view a brief history for Dutch Harbor that stretches back two hundred plus years here.
Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch
The Discovery Network's website
Deadliest Catch is Discovery's Emmy nominated baby (seven times and still no win!!!) and they have given everyone some very nice resources. If you need to know when the show airs look right here. To discuss the show with other fans visit the forums. The Discovery Channel has added a wiki for Deadliest Catch. There is tons of great content over there like these DC Captains trading cards. Find out some basics about the ships and crew being featured this season.
If you are craving video, Discovery is offering tons to watch. Check out the video podcasts too. You can read this season's production blogs here. You can download all kinds of stuff for your mobile like wallpaper, Captain's quotes and lots more. You can find things of interest about Deadliest Catch grouped together here.
Discovery has also made a Deadliest Catch game. Be warned - the competition is tough and you may find it addicting. Also look for a game to be released soon for your Xbox 360 and PC. Vote for your favorite ship and crew as often as you like. You can write a caption and post it for Deadliest Catch photos from the Discovery Channel. An extremely cool feature right now is a shout out to the fourth season's featured ships and crews.
Guess who'll be visiting with everyone for the discussion this week? Sten Skaar of the North American will be joining Discovery for a chat session on Tuesday, May 13th at 10:00pm Eastern. The fan chat starts an hour earlier. Did you miss part of the chat? Over at the Deadliest Catch Wiki you can now find the transcripts.
Deadliest Reports
A blog that delivers the news on Deadliest Catch and related crabbing topics. A must read because it's that frackin' fantastic!
Deadliest Reports' writer/owner Pat made a fantastic catch locating and sharing a soundtrack for the series. Tell her thankya!
Fetching RSS feed... please stand bySon of a Crab Fisherman
Part of Alaska Week on Discovery
Deadliest Catch - Alaska Week: Son of a Crab Fisherman
Scott Hillstrand explains life as the son of a second generation crab fisherman on Deadlieest Catch. Alaska Week airs April 20-26 at 9PM (ET/PT) on Discovery Channel. http://www.discovery.com/alaskaweek Check us out on facebook and become a fan: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Discovery-Channel/6002238585 Become a friend of Discovery on MySpace: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=370850690
Runtime: 2:02
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Deadliest Catch Bits and Pieces
Facts about the show from the Discovery Channel
The Deadliest Catch crews follow boats during two crab seasons: red king and opilio. The crew brings with them almost 5000 pounds of equipment to record what happens on the Bering Sea. Included in that are 63 cameras of which only a third survive the season. The Discovery Channel cameramen filled up over 5000 video tapes and recorded more then 8000 hours of footage. From all those hours, 16 one hour shows are distilled. Eighteen cameramen spent an average of 36 days out at sea recording the fourth season. Of those 18, eleven returned from previous seasons of Deadliest Catch.
King crab season kicks off the same date each year: October 15. While boats are also legally allowed to catch opilio in October, due to biological issues and market demand, most crews wait until January to fish their quota. Red king crabs are the largest crab species, weighing an average of six to 10 pounds (with the record female and male weighing 10.5 and 24 pounds, respectively. The male's leg span was nearly 5 feet across!). Opilio crabs weigh an average of one to three pounds. At about $4.50 per pound (up from $3.90 last year), fishermen can make between $27 and $45 for each red king crab they catch. At about $1.70 per pound (up from $1.50 last year), an average opilio crab can fetch $1.70 to $5.10. The crews are allowed to harvest only adult male crab. All females and juveniles must be thrown back.This year the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) was 18.5 million pounds for Bering Sea red king crab and 55 million pounds for opilio crab. Per rationalization guidelines, each boat in the fleet was given a predetermined quota to catch. This season, around 80 boats headed out to sea to fish their share of crab, down from over 250 just two years ago (prior to rationalization). The fleets ships range in size from 58 to 165 feet with most ships averaging around 120 feet. The ships are crewed by three to nine deckhands led their Captain.
Since crabs do not appear on radar or migrate in the same pattern each year, captains must rely on their experience and intuition to find the best locations to fish. The crabs are caught in 600-800 pound metal pots that are baited with ground herring, sardines or cod before they are dropped overboard.Poor water circulation, warm water or fresh water in the boat's holding tank all have the potential to kill crab. In fact, being in stagnant water will kill crab faster than being left out of the water. If a crab dies in the boat's holding tank, it emits toxins that can poison the other crabs. One dead crab could possibly turn an entire hold into garbage!
Inside the Catch - Season Four
Discovery Channel Diaries
Direct from the Discovery Channel read about the current season of Deadliest Catch!
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byDeadliest Catch: Desperate Hours
A collection of tales from various Captains and crews that is sure to keep any Deadliest Catch fan spellbound. Be sure to add this to your collection of DC memorabilia!
Deadliest Catch: Desperate Hours
Amazon Price: $11.86 (as of 05/12/2008)
List Price: $16.95
Discovery's Production Diary
Discovery posts a new one to coincide with the initial broadcast of each episode. Read the production diary that details what went into the making of the show that is airing.
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byDeadliest Catch Video
Deadliest Catch Ships
From all seasons
Go and check out all the ships who have their own site!
- F/V Aleutian Ballad
- Interested in taking a tour of the Bering Sea and seeing what's involved in crab fishing? You actually get out on the water, assuming it's nice. Prepare to be chumming for fish if it's not!
- F/V Cornelia Marie
- Deadliest Catch for multiple seasons has featured the Cornelia Marie, Captain Phil and her crew. Check out the website and their merchandise!
- F/V Evening Star
- I've included this because Blake Painter has Captained her during the Dungeness season.
- F/V Farwest Leader
- Go share some love for the crew. Full of information with links, photos and more!
- Greg and Ragnhild: F/V Farwest Leader
- Greg and Ragnhild Moncrief of the F/V Farwest Leader have their own site. Click through and show them your support!
- F/V Maverick
- The F/V Maverick's site is a great place to learn more about the ship and her crew. Find tons of great stuff to sate your Maverick fix.
- F/V North American
- This newest addition to Deadliest Catch has a great website! Still being filled out with goodies, expect to find more content each time you check back.
- F/V Northwestern
- The F/V Northwestern is owned and operated by the Hansen Family. Lots of information and cool merchandise available.
- F/V Sea Star
- Take a tour of the ship that's been fishing the Bering Sea for over 30 years. Your trip to Alaska wont be complete without stopping by.
- F/V Time Bandit
- Visit the F/V Time Bandit's Official Homepage!
- F/V Wizard
- Here is the Wizard's very nice home page. Recently updated and full of great information.
- F/V Rollo on Squidoo
- This is my fan lens for the F/V Rollo. You can click through directly to the Rollo website but Corey says it's undergoing an update.
More Ships of the DC Fleet
From all seasons
F/V Time Bandit
Time Bandit: Two Brothers, the Bering Sea, and One of the World's Deadliest Jobs
Johnathan and Andy Hillstrand along with Malcolm MacPherson penned a book about life and being a fisherman on the Bering Sea. If you are a Time Bandit fan this is a must add to your collection!
Time Bandit: Two Brothers, the Bering Sea, and One of the World's Deadliest Jobs
Amazon Price: $16.50 (as of 05/12/2008)
List Price: $25.00
Used Price: $15.68
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Deadliest Catch on Myspace
MySpace pages for ships and crews
Go be friends with your favorite ships and crew who maintain a page! Be warned, some profiles are set to private and you have to be a friend to view it.
Aleutian Ballad
Cornelia Marie
Farwest Leader
Maverick
Northwestern
Rollo
The Banditas (Time Bandit)
Wizard
Jake Anderson
Matt Bradley
Mike Fourtner
Lynn Guitard
Edgar Hansen
Norm Hansen
Josh Harris
Andy Hillstrand
John Hillstrand
Neal Hillstrand
Crosby Leveen
Nick Maurer
Russell Newberry
Eric Nyhammer
Art Peterson
Corky Tilley
Deadliest Catch Links
More information
Corey Arnold aboard the Rollo.
- Corey Arnold Photography
- Corey graciously allowed me the use of his photos - any of the ones you've been enjoying here not credited to Discovery. Check out the great material he's posted. If you are wondering how he took them, he is a deckhand on the Rollo.
Corey's website dislikes IE, so if that's your browser here's a direct link to his News section. He's got tons of pictures and writes what's on his mind. You can then navigate using the arrows in the upper right to access the rest of the material. Be sure to visit his links page too. More from Corey here. - Deadliest Forums
- Here is a forum where you can discuss your favorite ship and crew. This forum is well moderated and populated by folks who act like adults. If you love the show I bet you'll love this forum too.
From the website - "The Ultimate Discussion Forum for the the Series"
I whole heartedly agree! - Deadliest Reports
- Be sure to stop by and read about what's churning in the crabbing world. I highly recommend this site!
- Deadliest Fans
- Another great blog about Discovery's Deadliest Catch. It looks like the blog owner is on hiatus. There is an interview they did with Sig and Edgar Hansen here. Very cool.
- Deadliest Catch
- Bursts of activity punctuate this interesting blog about Deadliest Catch.
- Alaska Photo Library
- This website has some of the most striking photography of Alaska I've seen. Searchable by keyword or location. Incredible photos that are surely worth a visit.
- Alaska King Crabs
- Alaska king crabs species descriptions from the Wildlife Notebook Series publication - Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
- NEFSC Historical Page
- Although this covers all American fisheries Alaska gets good mentions throughout the time line. There are also cool old photos along with a ton of other interesting things to read.
- Commercial Crab Harvests
- Commercial crab fisheries harvests, 1974-2004, for the State of Alaska. From the Alaska Fish and Game's Division of Commercial Fisheries. More information to troll through here.
- Deadliest Videos - Online Crabbing / Fishing Videos
- This site has a very long list of videos to watch on the internet. Gathered from all over you could spend hours and hours here.
Deadliest Catch - Waves
Delivering as promised
Deadliest Catch - Waves
Voyage to the Bering Sea and follow the brave captains and crew of eight crab-fishing vessels as they struggle against the treacherous weather conditions and get pounded by giant waves doing one of the deadliest — and most lucrative — jobs in the world. Deadliest Catch can be seen on the Discovery Channel.
Runtime: 5:44
157157 views
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More Deadliest Catch Links
More information and places to visit.
- F/V Northwestern - Blog
- Helly Hansen brings us all a blog about the F/V Northwestern. Photos, video, updates and great merchandise for this highly popular ship and crew.
- Captain McDreamy & Captain McSteamy
- This site is full of all kinds of stuff directly related to two certain crabbing Captains. Chock full of user posted information. If you like Phil and John you may never leave this site.
From the website well worth your click:
"The Captain McDreamy & Captain McSteamy guest book is a place for all of Phils and John's fans to get together and have some fun. There is a fantastic group of Phil Harris and John Hillstrand fans from all over the country represented here." - Bad Boys of the Bering Sea
- Another forum to enjoy about the best show on the Discovery channel! You'll see fresh faces and familiar names from other boards here because we all know - there is no such thing as too much Deadliest Catch!
- Capt. Phil Interview
- Captain Phil and Captain Keith from Discovery Channel's Emmy nominated series "The Deadliest Catch" join Don Wade & Roma on WLS, 890 AM - Chicago's Talk Station
- The MJ Morning Show
- The MJ Morning Show which plays on several radio stations hosted Phil, Captain of the Cornelia Marie and Johnathan, Captain of the Time Bandit. A great listen plus photos!
- Crabwizard on Youtube
- The Crabwizard has put up a Youtube page for their fans! Stop on over and enjoy some of the video they have posted.
- F/V Northwestern on YouTube
- The Northwestern has put up a page on YouTube. Video wise it's a bit of this and a tad of that.
- Unalaska Daily Vessel Check
- Find out if your favorite ship is docked in Unalaska, Alaska.
Dutch Harbor Webcams
And other places Alaska
The only other thing on the Alaskan webcam plat du jour is a page with 15 webcams to click through to!
Bering Sea Guestbook
No chumming for fish!
Whose your favorite deckhand or captain? Baitboy?!? Give someone a shout out, write a blurb and say Hello to all the other show obsessed fans!
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beachbum_gabby
I love this reality shows, the competition and the money! Posted May 02, 2008 |
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DiscoveryTV
Just wanted to let you know about the new season of the hit show Deadliest Catch on The Discovery Channel! New episodes premiere every Tuesday night at 9PM! Don't miss this week's exciting adventure as it coincides with The Discovery Channel's Alaska Week, featuring other original programs focusing on the great wilderness of the north! If you haven't seen it before, Deadliest Catch follows the now legendary captains and their crews as they endure the brutal Bering Sea doing one of the deadliest jobs in the world - Alaskan Crab Fishing. Also, check out the ultimate fan community with the new Deadliest Catch WIKI. Viewers can congregate for weekly challenges and win Deadliest Catch prizes. Find the Wiki here: http://www.deadliest-catch-wiki.discovery.com Posted April 22, 2008 |
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thomasz
Nice Lens. The guys catching the crabs are awesome. Posted January 30, 2008 |
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Karendelac
I am passionate about the worlds oceans and your lens is a solid 5 stars. I have just completed a State-of-the-Art Titanic Lens ~~ Please click on Karendelac above, to view it. Posted October 10, 2007 |
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Aika
crab season is definitely a time for big bucks! Love this show, the brave captains and crew, perfect film! 5* Posted August 09, 2007 |
Season Three of Deadliest Catch
Season One of Deadliest Catch
My synopses and quotes for the first eight episodes
Deadliest Catch DVD Box Sets
Grab the entire collection
Deadliest Catch - The Pilot Episode DVD
Amazon Price: (as of 05/12/2008)
Deadliest Catch - Season 1 (5 Disc Set)
Amazon Price: $18.99 (as of 05/12/2008)
Deadliest Catch: Season 2 (3pc)
Amazon Price: $18.99 (as of 05/12/2008)
Deadliest Catch - Season 3
Amazon Price: $19.99 (as of 05/12/2008)
Deadliest Catch - Seasons 1, 2, & 3
Amazon Price: $80.99 (as of 05/12/2008)
Deadliest Catch DVD Box Sets on Ebay
Follow the crews through each season and share their triumphs and sorrows as they find each on the Bering Sea.
Fetching new data from eBay now... please stand by
Deadliest Catch Soundtrack
Deadliest Catch
Release Date: 09/25/2007
Amazon Price: $18.98 (as of 05/12/2008)
List Price: $18.98
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Deadliest Catch Index
- Crab Fishing in Alaska
- Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch
- Deadliest Reports
- Son of a Crab Fisherman
- Deadliest Catch Bits and Pieces
- Inside the Catch - Season Four
- Deadliest Catch: Desperate Hours
- Discovery's Production Diary
- Deadliest Catch Video
- Deadliest Catch Ships
- More Ships of the DC Fleet
- F/V Time Bandit
- Deadliest Catch on Myspace
- Deadliest Catch Links
- Deadliest Catch - Waves
- More Deadliest Catch Links
- Dutch Harbor Webcams
- Bering Sea Guestbook
- Season Four of Deadliest Catch
- Season Three of Deadliest Catch
- Season Two of Deadliest Catch
- Season One of Deadliest Catch
- Deadliest Catch DVD Box Sets
- Deadliest Catch DVD Box Sets on Ebay
- Deadliest Catch Soundtrack
