Crab fishing is more of a career than it is a hobby. The seasons are short and the job is difficult and extremely manual. However, once it is done, crab fishing can be very lucrative. The times when crab fishing is the best is in the fall and winter, but the time window during these seasons is only about four weeks each. Especially in the Bering Sea, the best months are October and January. The most popular type of crab to catch is Alaskan King Crab, and that is where the majority of crab fishing is done, in Alaska. Alaskan King Crab give the best return on investment and therefore is most desired to the crab fishermen. In order to catch the crabs, basically, a large net is dropped into the body of water and left there for ours on end to catch as much crab as possible. The crab fishermen attach bait to the bottom of the nets or “pots,” which are steel traps, with ground sardines, cod and herring and dropped several hundred feet below the surface. The reason Alaskan King Crap legs are more sought after and makes more money is because of their size compared to snow crab. King crab is two and a half inches bigger than the snow crab which means there is more meat.
Crab Fishing Jobs
If crab fishing is something that seems like something you would like to pursue as a career, consider the following first. Remember that crab fishing is very manual intense labor and very dangerous. 80% of the fishermen that die is due to drowning or boating accidents. Also know that it is not unusual to work up to 21 hours or even around the clock in some cases. There are many times when crab fishermen have to brave extremely trying weather conditions and deal with the fact that they are offshore on a crab fishing boat for weeks at a time before returning to shore. However, if none of this deters you from being a crab fisherman, then money is in the future for you. Crab fishermen receive a percentage of how much crab they catch and sell. This keeps the fishermen motivated to continue to do their best and work their hardest, even after sleepless nights spent on deck.
Crab Fishing Boats
The crab fishing boats that are used take millions of dollars to build and then thousands of dollars to operate yearly. However, they do bring in enough money to cover operating costs, but they also make a profit as well. It is difficult to detect good crab fishing spots so many times it is up to the captain to use his intuition in determining where to drop the “pots” to catch the most crabs. Crab fishing boats have to hold a tank large enough to keep all of their findings and keep them alive.
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