How many alaskan crab boats are there

The fishing vessel contains a medical kit, but this kit is more comprehensive than a traditional first aid kit. It includes some prescription drugs, such as morphine and antibiotics, as well materials to stitch wounds. The captain receives specialized training in the use of the first aid gear when he or she gains a captain's license.

If the injury requires more extensive medical care, the Coast Guard will evacuate the injured crew member to port. Dutch Harbor facilities are not extensive, and severe injuries may require a flight to Anchorage. Now that we know how captains and Coast Guard keep fishermen safe on board, let's find out what other supplies the ship carries. The Coast Guard requires survival suits for each crew member aboard a crab fishing vessel. These suits help keep crew members alive in the event a boat capsizes or otherwise encounters trouble.

The neoprene suits provide floatation support as well as thermal protection. They're oversized so that crew members can put them on quickly. However, crew members don't wear the suits at all times. In the event of an emergency, the crew members are expected to suit up and abandon ship in less than one minute.

Although the suits won't keep the wearer safe for extended periods in frigid and rough seas, they increase survival time to several hours. Before the ship leaves port, the crewmen visit the butcher, stock up at Costco and plan their meals.

Once the men leave port, the work schedule is erratic. They typically spend a day or so traveling to the area where they intend to set out the crab pots. The next three to 10 days may require to hour shifts. The empty crab pots are baited and dropped into the water and marked with buoys. After all the crab pots are dropped, the crew circles back to start picking them up -- hoping they're full. While the crab boats have a particular number of crab they're permitted to catch before the end of the season, the ships return to port several times during one trip.

The time a boat spends at sea is directly related to its size. Just as the ship can't carry too much equipment without capsizing , it also cannot carry too much crab. During the trip back to port, typically every week-and-a-half to two weeks, the deckhands sleep , watch movies, read and make any necessary repairs to the ship. At port, they resupply the boat with groceries. Up next, get a taste for community life aboard a crab fishing vessel. In the past, crab fishing was conducted derby style.

Each year, up to crab fishing boats headed out of Dutch Harbor in Unalaska, Alaska, to catch as many as possible of the seven species of commercially desirable crab located in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska. This race led to long and desperate work days, as each boat captain scrambled to haul in the most crab before the season ended. When not engaged in direct harvesting operations, some of these vessels operate as tender vessels taking deliveries of Alaska salmon from a fleet of independent fishermen.

Others may perform charter work for fisheries research purposes. Typical crew size is 4 or 5. The Trident crab catcher vessel fleet is comprised of 5 vessels ranging in size from to ft. These vessels spend the majority of their fishing time in the Bering Sea targeting King crab, Opilio Snow crab , and Bairdi Tanner crab.

These fisheries take place from late fall through the winter months and some may continue into the early spring. In addition to crab, some of these vessels also harvest Pacific cod and Sablefish Blackcod in the Bering Sea using pot gear.

During the summer months the vessels stay busy tendering salmon in Bristol Bay and Southeast Alaska. Researchers also have tracked increased disease. As the sea bottom warmed, snow crab also appear to have moved much farther to the northwest and in deeper waters than in years past. But scientists, in testimony to the council, said the evidence indicates a big downturn in the population — not just a migration out of the survey zone.

Formed by a landmark federal law that extended U. In a Wednesday vote, the council approved a maximum allowable snow crab harvest of The state of Alaska, which sets the final quota, opted for a considerably lower 5.

Also on Friday, the state set a quota of 1. The crab and fish harvests in the Bering Sea collectively rank as the most valuable fisheries in North America, and the federal council, when it resumes meeting next week, is expected to consider additional restrictions in some other harvests because of the low number of snow and king crab.

The biggest bycatch of red king crab has come from crews who harvest fish with steel, baited traps set along the sea bottom. Sometimes we have a few hours between picking up pots. Have a good attitude. A bad one is going to get you beat up or fired. And be ready to work harder then you ever have. What would be your number one tip to give to anyone who is trying to get a job on a fishing boat?

Describe the living arrangements and how you deal with sharing space, living in a small accommodation. You really need to be able to get along with all sorts of personalities on a boat. I am a pretty easy-going guy so I just wait my turn, let everyone else do their stuff, and then take care of mine.

You all take turns doing everything. Having a schedule really helps. Would you recommend this line of work to others, and if so, then why?