Fifteen hundred fishermen have converged on Dutch Harbor, Alaska, for the beginning of the Alaskan King Crab season. Each man is here to stake his claim on the 14,267,000 pounds of crab and the chance to earn a year's wages in just one week.
After a long night of baiting and setting crab pots, the fishermen anxiously await the captain's call to begin fishing. The first pot pulled of the season sets the mood. The early losers agonize over strategy hoping to make up for a lost catch.
It's hour 42 of the season and every captain feels the pressure. The Alaskan Department of Fish and Game announces an early closure to the season. Each boat has 24 hours to pull the pots they have in the water out - and every one of the final pots count.
With half a day left in the Alaskan king crab season, the crews race against the clock to get as much crab as possible. As the race to unload begins, minutes can mean the difference between unloading immediately or waiting in the harbor for days.
It is the dead of winter in Dutch Harbor, Alaska, where the days are a mere 6 hours long. The forecast for crab fishing is cold and dangerous. But opelio crab season is just about to begin and 171 boats begin the long journey to find them.
The 2005 Opelio crab season didn't start but stumbled! The Big Valley sunk and its crew are still missing. "Good Samaritan" boats help search for survivors in the frigid Bering Sea. Soon though, it's 170 boats left fishing, and then tragedy strikes again.
It's been a little over 12 hours since the Opelio crab season opened and the Bering Sea has already claimed 6 lives. Despite these losses, the rest of the fleet begins to pull the pots and hopes are high. For the first time this season, the seas are calm.
It's crab season on the Bering Sea. Unseasonably warm weather and calm seas have contributed to record catches for the fleet. Capt. Sig Hansen and crew landed on the crab early and cranked through their gear filling two of the boat's three holds.
The Opelio crab season is open and the hunt for crab is intensifying. Rumors of a possible closure prompt the men to push even harder. After many blank pots, Capt. Jim Stone of the Retriever decides to give up on the Northern fishing grounds.
With the deaths of the Big Valley crew, this Opelio crab season has been a rough one. As the last hours of the season tick down, a new race begins- the race back to port. Captains strategize and compete for the best spot in line to off-load.
