Alaska Crab Fishing Jobs | Bering Sea King Crabbing

Alaska Crab Fishing Jobs | Bering Sea King Crabbing
The dangers of crabbing in Alaska are very real. The Bureau of Labor Statistics usually ranks Alaskan crab fishing the occupation with the highest mortality rate (300:100,000). Most of these deaths are reported as death by drowning or from hypothermia. Additionally, many more people each year are injured and crippled due to the machinery in use onboard. One of the reasons crabbing in Alaska is so dangerous is because it takes place during the winter months, when crab harvests are at their highest. During the winter, waters are colder, storms are more frequent and the ocean is considerably more difficult to manage. Up until about 2005 the crab industry in Alaska ran on a derby system. This system meant that at the opening date for the season boats left for harvest and crabbed until the quota was met for the year and the crabbing fleets were called in. Fishermen would crab 24 hours a day with crews resting very little in order to catch as much as they could as fast as they could. This added to the human error aspect in the dangers of crabbing and also contributed to many deaths. These hours and risks were considered well worth the pay when a deckhand on a crabbing boat could fetch anywhere from ,000 – 0,000 during a season.