Crab Fishing (Homer: live, dangerous, snow)

[adham]

Has any one here worked in crab fishing in Alaska ? or knows someone who did ?
Can you tell me about it. Looks like a cool job.

[Rance]

I worked on a couple boats out of Homer for a few years. This was back in the late 70's early 80's. It was a very cool job. I lived on a 58' boat in the Homer boat harbor, and alternated between two boats, so I worked every day. For dungeness and tanner (snow) crab.

[adham]

Originally Posted by Rance

I worked on a couple boats out of Homer for a few years. This was back in the late 70's early 80's. It was a very cool job. I lived on a 58' boat in the Homer boat harbor, and alternated between two boats, so I worked every day. For dungeness and tanner (snow) crab.

Is it dangerous as everyone says it is ???

[Rance]

Working out of Homer is fairly protected. Bristol Bay is pretty much wide open to the world so storms are much more intense. Not to mention you are a 1000 miles from nowhere and help can be a long ways off. Sure we still had icing problems...but we were able to pull into Homer Harbor every night where busting ice could be delt with alongside the dock. Handling pots in rolling seas, icy decks, getting caught up in ropes as a pot drops to sea floor, long work hours with little sleep in between...yes...it can be very dangerous.

[AK76]

Commercial fishing of any type in Alaska is extremely dangerous, one must keep their wits about them at all times not to mention one eye one "the other guy" just in case something they are doing goes awry, or they get in trouble and need you to save them!

I fished on a shrimp trawler and longliner for black cod (sablefish) and halibut in Prince William Sound, longlined in Cook Inlet for halibut and drift gillnet fished in Bristol Bay for salmon, had two offers to crab fish in the Bering Sea and declined both times, a 92ft boat and 40'-60' seas... I did not like the math enough, and back then there were some notable and too frequent deaths occurring in the industry.