“Deadliest Catch” Returns - Ships Sink, Ratings Soar
Oh no…NOT CRABS!
Oh, yes…the crabs are back. The Discovery Network’s hit series The Deadliest Catch is one of the few reality shows which actually documents events that would occur even if the cameras weren’t around. Tuesday’s premier marks the 4th season of the Discovery Channel’s most popular series in years, which follows several Alaskan fishing vessels through the brief, but deadly, crab fishing season. The high-yield pursuit is also considered to be one of the highest-risk commercial fields; working with heavy machinery on the tumultuous Bering Sea in sub-zero temperatures takes a high physical and emotional toll on crews and captains alike.
Only last month one of the fleet’s ships, the Alaska Ranger, sank off the coast of Alaska:
They endure high winds, cold water, ice and long work days. Alaska’s commercial fishermen work in one of the world’s harshest and most dangerous environments.
Jim Herbert was asleep on board a 48 foot vessel years ago when it capsized. “The boat rolled over in the Gulf of Alaska probably about 80 miles off shore. It’s nothing anyone wants to go through.”
It was nothing like the “Poseidon Adventure.” Herbert says, “Everything happens very suddenly and one has to fall back on your reflexes to know immediately how to use your gear, not be thinking about it. Everybody has to do their part just like an efficient sports team.”
The U.S. Coast Guard implemented new safety requirements in the early 1990s. Herbert says, “There are a lot less people dying in the North Pacific and less vessels going down compared to the earlier days.”
Ninety-six percent of commercial fishermen survived sinkings or capsizings in 2004, whereas in 1991, only 73 percent survived.
“I’d like to pat the 17th District Coast Guard on the back,” says Keith Colburn, Captain of the Wizard. You may have seen him on the Discovery Channel’s TV show, “The Deadliest Catch.”
One of the crew members of the Alaska Ranger, which sank last week in the Aleutian Islands, told the Coast Guard his immersion suit, designed to keep him warm in the freezing water, had holes in it. Colburn says you need to watch out for: “The zipper; that’s an especially week point on a immersion suit. The other thing is how you stored them. If you have any contact with salt water and they haven’t been rinsed properly or they haven’t been dried properly.”
Another crew member has alleged that the chief engineer had booze on his breath. Colburn says there is testing during the season, but he’d like to take it a step further. “We need to have two people that can actually physically test for alcohol or substances on board at all times,” says Colburn.
Colburn and Herbert say safety at sea is top of mind and good business. Herbert says, “Would you like to have a lawsuit, or not have a lawsuit? Colburn points out, “There are quite a few of them because it’s a dangerous work activity and it’s not as regulated an industry as it probably should be.”
The series has prompted the revision of numerous safety regulations in the fishing industry. As the show documented last season, the king crab fishing season is no longer a winner-take-all proposition; vessels now have quotas which determine how much crab they are allowed to catch and sell. Though the revised procedure is likely safer for the crews, some captains can’t help but regret the loss of the high-adrenaline gold rush mentality which previously allowed ships to catch as much crab as they were able within the season’s confines.
But despite the shift in regulations, the watery stage remains set for adventure, as well as potential tragedy, and the crews’ down-to-earth (or down-to-ocean) charm in the face of nature’s frozen fury continue to push the boundaries of both good judgment and good television.
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