Thread: Crabbing: The Most Dangerous Job in the World

If you love crab, especially Alaskan King Crab, perhaps you'll appreciate that crabbing in Alaska off the Bering Strait is the deadliest job in the world. There is no job where fisherman risk their lives in conditions that are incredible. Surviving below freezing temperature on the Bering Sea which is known for incredible waves and strong winds is an amazing feat. To be able to do it and hunt for King Crab that can bring in up to $10 per pound is amazing.

Tonight, catch the season premiere of last year's hugely successful show on the Discover Channel: The Deadliest Catch.

The show is a reality style show that follows the fortunes and downfalls of 5 different crabbing vessels as they try to make a fortune out on the Bering Sea.

We saw this on the Discover Channel...I would've never thought crab-hunting/catching would be SO dangerous!!!!

I had heard before I saw the show that it was one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. But when I watched the first season of the show last year, I was amazed by just how dangerous it was! Its amazing what these guys do.

The show certainly has me hooked!

Great show!

glad to see I'm not the only one watching!

I just saw a clip of this on the news today, I sure wouldn't want that job! But I really enjoy crab,

Not to brag, but I just fed my in-laws (16 people there including me) with the 4 King Crab that were in my pots last week.

It doesn't have to be quite that dangerous. Up until the late 1980's commercial halibut fishing was the same way. What happens is that Fish & Game will determine that X number of crab can be harvested without over-fishing them and killing off the species. Once they announce how many, it's a race to get as many of that X number as possible before the collective limit is reached.

The halibut fishermen opted for a quota program where each boat is assigned (or now purchases) a percentage of the allowable catch for a given year. Now there's no race, since each boat knows they'll be allowed to catch a given number of crab. They can wait until the weather is good or things warm up before they have to go out.

Fish and Crab are big business up here. Sometimes it gets very political, but most of the time it's just plain tasty! Glad I can keep on taking what I need for personal use whenever I like!

-Case