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Crab Q&A
Do you have questions related to the crab fishing industry? Post your questions below by pressing the "EasyEdit" button. If you have answers toquestions based on experience and/or research, please feel free to add those, as well!| Question: I have watched many times the hook being thrown to catch the buoy but they don't show when and what hook is attaced to the bridle to actually bring the pot on board. When is this hook attached and by whom?BirminghamKen |
| Answer: There are two buoys with line tied to it. the crew member working on the rail trys to aim in between those two buoys. once the buoys are pulled in, the crewmember then puts the line (after the buoys) in the block, which pulls the pot up. the line in between the buoys is connected to the line that is connected to the bridal, which is connected to the pot. |
| Question: What is the difference between miles per hour for winds and knotts? |
| Answer: MPH = Knots x 1.15 |
| Question: How many times per season do the boats unload their catches? The show kinda makes it look like the only do it after the season closes. Is this correct or are there multiple trips to the processors? AustinDave |
| Answer: well it really depends on the boats quota. it the boat has a large quota, it would want to get their as fast as they can with full tanks of crab to end their season early. I am pretty sure the processors will not accept crab after the season is finished. captain and crew have to be careful not to go over or under there set quota. |
| Question: How do I become a commercial crab fisherman? |
| Answer: You know someone on a crabber, being in the right place at the right time.walking the docks asking for work.getting experience fishing in other fisheries and then the opportunity knocks.not sitting on your butt waiting for it to happen. |
| Question: My father was a 3rd generation oysterman and every summer when they couldn't catch oysters they would mop up as many starfish as possible. (Starfish kill oysters) Every time the mops came up he would have lobsters and crab along with hundreds of starfish. I was wondering if the Captains could use this type of mop to "test" a spot? |
| Answer: You can only prospect with pots which are the only legal gear for crab. |
| Question: How long is king crab season? |
| Answer:It is usually 48-60 days long, unless it closes sooner due to many crab boats fishing. |
| Question: How does a person get on the crab boats do they go and fill out applications or how do they do that? |
| Answer: - Add answer. Please note your source(s) - most people start in a fish processing plant, and work there way up, or sometimes, people get lucky and are hired off the dock. (sources= the show) |
| Question: - What are the differences when fishing for different types of crab? Is it location, season, pots, bait or some other factors? |
| Answer: - There was a video clip explaining the difference on discovery.com. It might still be there. If memory serves, you have to rig the crab pots differently because of the different sizes of the crabs. Also, the seasons are different. For more info, I would check the official website. |
| Question:Has there ever been a woman deckhand fishing during the crab season? |
| Answer: Yes, I have heard captains telling stories about women working as deckhands. |
| Question:What do you fish when crab seasons are over? |
| Answer: Halibut, salmon and cod is what I fish when I'm not crabbing. |
| Question: - Is there any "formal" training necessary to become the Captain of a boat? Obviously they learn how to fish by doing it and perhaps having a mentor, but is there any outside training required in say navigation, weather, sea currents, etc? |
| Answer: I was allowed to run a couple crabbers for cod potting.Basically, my training was working on the boat and learning how to operate all the systems. Generators,pumps,chillers, etc. as well as the electronics. Basically, I learned from YEARS of experience. |
| Answer: Captain Phil was just talking about this in his Chat on Tuesday. He said that it is alot more strict now. You have to take and pass Classes to get a Captians License, and then if you get all that, you have to be Voted into the Insurance pool by the other captains in your league/ pool of boats. |
| Question: I've heard a lot of the captains on the show and Mike Rowe talking about "green slime". Why are the crabs attracted to it and what is it? |
| Answer:Hiram Johnson from the Maverick was talking on one of the shows about the green mud. He said that the Opilio Crab live in the green mud. My speculation (it is only a speculation) is that since Opilio Crap migrate in large biomasses and as they migrate they stir up the mud kicking up all sorts of food for them to eat, it would make ideal conditions for them to live with a plentiful food source rather than a rocky area. |
| Question: I was wondering what they do with the rest of the crab body after they tear the legs off? Is that what we get in the can or do they just discard it? |
| Answer The body contains meat and is kept attached to the legs in halves. the shells are sometimes ground up and dumped at sea. |
| Question:I was wondering how do the deckhands give an accurate crab count and sex,species,and size when they just grab handfulls of crab and shove it into the tanks? |
| Answer: - We don't just grab handfuls and stuff em down. It may look that way but they are sorted. The females are a lot smaller than the males so sexing them is actually quite easy. When we are opie fishing, we often get pots full of "clean corn" which is where the pot is almost 100% keepers. Then we will grab handfuls but we are counting them and keeping an eye out for bairdi and females. Species wise the bairdi and the opilio are the only crab that are similar, however the bairdi has a wider ,smoother shell and red eyes, the opilio has green or brown eyes. also the bairdis' mouth looks like an M while the opilio's mouth is straight. |
| Question: - I am a first season viewer of the Deadliest Catch. When the pots are baited in tossed over board I noticed it is crucial that they are tied tight. How do the crab get in and when they get in to the pots to feast what keeps them in there? |
| Answer: - The pot has a triangular shaped netting that they crawl in through. Once they get in, they can't get out, unless the ropes aren't tied tight enough. |
| Question: I hear everyday about mercury and lead levels found in bottom feeders in our oceans. Question: How do you determine if our crab is safe to eat? International waters are creepy...Are ours safe? |
| Answer: - Add answer. Please note your source(s) - |
| Question:How do they set the limits on the crab season before it starts and how do they decide the quota for each fishing vessel? |
| Answer: - |
| Question: How do the fish & game know that each boat has stop fishing when they close the season early ? |
| Answer- We have v.m.s.(vessel monitoring system)which is a gps equiped little black box that constantly gives our position in real time to the National Marine Fisheries Service. |
| Question: - How do crab travel? On a few shows Biomasses have been mentioned and they showed a graphic once for about 3 seconds. Are they in big clumps like hills moving along the bottom? Also how big is a biomass is it the size of a football field just sort of rolling along the bottom. I really wish they would do more on the show on the crab themselves. |
| Answer: - I've crabbed for sixteen years and have wondered the same thing. I've seen pictures of the biomass looking like a rolling wave as it moved across the bottom. But size wise? They must be huge bio masses. We've had pots spread out for miles in every direction, all coming up stuffed.this last season, 2008. We pulled up almost 600'000 pounds out of one area with very little moving of the gear and they were still coming up stuffed!! How's that for a bio mass? |
| Question: - How do the Captain's name their boats? Is there some superstition connected to the name of your boat? |
| Answer: - I know that the Cornelia Marie was named after the girl that owns the boat, Cornelia Marie Devlin. She owned it with her husband and then her husband sold his share to Captain Phil. This was on their website. |
| Question: -What is a MOP and don't tell me its what you use to mop a kitchen floor. Seriously, what is one? |
| Answer: - I think your question is in reference to an earlier question in which someone mentioned using a mop for oysters. I believe he is describing an oyster dredge. which is like a large flat bar with a chain mesh bag towed behind it that is dragged along the bottom to catch oysters,scallops,and clams |
| Question: - Do you feed the crab once they are in the holding tanks? |
| Answer: - No they don't get fed, but they can survive for quite awhile just filtering the sea water that is constantly be pumped through the tanks. |
| Question: What are the differences between the different types of crab being fished in the Bering Sea, and which type yields more money? |
| Answer: King crab is more expensive because they are bigger/ have more meat |
| Question:What months are you out at sea? |
| Answer: october to april for crab. then there is usually halibut or tendering in the summer. |
| Question:Does anybody know if there has ever been any female full time deckhands on any of the ships? I am not talking about a cook. I am talking about a girl who has been just one of the guys out on deck. If not, would a capitan ever hire a girl? Be nice when you answer this, girls are the same as boys. |
| Answer:Add answer. Please note your source(s) |
| Question:Is it possible to put a filtration device in the crab tanks to cut back on dead loss? |
| Answer: |
| Question: Can someone give me some tips on the Deadliest Catch CLASSIC computer game? I seem to never be able to go over a profit if 1,000,000 or so dollars. |
| Answer: |
| Question:I was told that the inside of the crab legs are liquid until they are cooked. That doesn't seem to make sense...how would they move if it were true. Can anyone answer this please? |
| Answer: no, its a meat,it doesn't look like it does when it's cooked, a little mushier, but it's not a liquid. |
| Question:I was just wondering what different species of crab you catch when you go fishing? Can anyone answer this please? |
| Answer:red, blue,brown, and golden king crab. opilios, bairdi,korean horse shoe hair crab and dungeness are all commercially fished in alaska. |
| Question: I don't understand why heat could not be used to remove ice from the deck or prevent it from forming. It sure seems like a massive portable heater would be easier than all that hammering. |
| Answer: it might keep ice from forming directly in front of the heater. i've seen were there is a heater blasting heat onto the wheelhouse windows, but it is so cold that ice still forms on the other side of the heated window. |
| Question: Why was the Northwestern's harvest of 850,000 pounds worth more ($1.4 million) than the Cornelia Marie's 1.2 million (worth $1.3 million) in the final crab count? |
| Answer: I think it is because the Cornelia Marie had mechanical problems, so deckhand and captain did not get as much money.( if you are asking about the amount of money they each got) |
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| Started By | Thread Subject | Replies | Last Post | |
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| kat32 | Working With The Crew | 0 | Aug 15 2008, 10:39 AM EDT by kat32 | |
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Thread started: Aug 15 2008, 10:39 AM EDT
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I was wondering how can I go about working on 1 of the ships????
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| amountinc | Other bait than cod? | 0 | Aug 7 2008, 2:13 AM EDT by amountinc | |
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Thread started: Aug 7 2008, 2:13 AM EDT
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Has any of the captains used break over fluorescent lights in the pods to attract crab?
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| chanile45 | Try this Again. | 4 | Jul 22 2008, 1:27 PM EDT by SilverSun1 | |
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Thread started: Jun 3 2008, 8:33 PM EDT
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I just started watching the series "Deadliest Catch", when the crabs go into the pots to feast what keeps them from feasting and leaving since the pots are tied securely????? Also if the pots are tied that securely how do they get in there?
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| taylormn | Comment | 2 | Jul 19 2008, 6:07 PM EDT by taylormn | |
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Thread started: Jul 19 2008, 5:17 PM EDT
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I just wanted to say, I think you are all great at what you do.It is a very hard job.... I wish you all the Best..And would love to meet all of you!! Your Great...
P..S. How do you get invited or know about your parties that I see on here? Would love to come to one.. Take care~~ Taylor from Minnesota
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| phills03 | Crabs | 0 | May 29 2008, 6:59 PM EDT by phills03 | |
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Thread started: May 29 2008, 6:59 PM EDT
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What is th Bigges King crab that has ever been caught, i've seen quite a few big ones on the show itself but not in hearing what isthe biggest ever caught and by who.
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