Getting Our Footing

The North American has finally arrived on the king crab fishing grounds.  We are late, but ready to fish. Our deck-cameraman Danny slides from his bunk uneasily.  It is his first journey into the Bering Sea.  I notice that it takes him a while to stand and catch his balance.  Danny is unaware of my gaze and concern as I watch him.  He has been seasick and lying in his bunk since we first climbed onboard.  It is now time to go into production mode, and I really need him to rally. 

Engineer and deck boss John Skaar (pictured in orange) also rises from his bunk.  He is anxious to hit the deck and begin baiting and dropping pots over the rail.  He too will have to manage his crew on deck.  Travis, one of John’s deckhands, is seasick as well, but John is not worried about him.  Travis has had a lot of experience fighting though his nausea.  He will be OK.   John is more concerned about managing the other two deckhands, each a master fisherman with his own ideas about how a deck should be run.  He will have to lead Davin Nes (pictured in yellow), a highly experienced fisherman, and Eric Nyhammer, the captain of the Rollo, who has joined us as our fourth deckhand for king crab season.  Both of these men will certainly voice their own opinions.  John practically grew up on the deck of the North American.  It is his home turf and he is likely to defend that position.

As the crew steps out onto the wooden deck, they walk right past cameraman Danny, who is now doubled over puking by the bait-chopper.  All that I can do at this point is shake my head and climb up into the wheelhouse to film the captain during his first pot drops in three years.  It is time to fish and time to shoot.  In the days ahead, each of us will have to define our individual roles and positions aboard this vessel.

Photo: Marc Carter/DCL

Comments

[brian scarr]

This message will hopefully get to Sten. My name is Brian Scarr and my family owns a moving company named Scarr Moving and Storage. We represent a world wide moving company called northAmerican Van Lines. I just saw the tuesday episode of Deadliest Catch and was amazed at the coincidene of our names as well as the names of our businesses. I want to talk to Sten and try to see if we might be related somehow and possibly swap t-shirts. Hopefully someone at Discovery Channel can help facilitate this. Please email me @ brians@scarrmoving.com.

[norwegian_footballer]

A little insight into subtleties from one of Sten's childhood friends.

1st episode was a lot of fun. the fact the gang on their first string placed 23 pots (2-3) as John the deckboss stated was really a subliminal message to one of their best friends. Discovery didn't cut it...and it made it more funny for the inner circle of Sten's friends. the number 23...derived from Michael Jordan's number was supposed to bring blessings. It appeared from the first episode like it brought a curse. You'll never see Sten lay 30 pots (3-0)...that number.....Mark Radford, drafted out of Oregon (if I recall) by the Sonics, was a bust....so that number brings on a curse. One of Sten's best friends can sight off about 50 coincidences that involve the number 30 and the number 23 that carry the idea that 30 is a curse, and 23 is a blessing.

For brians@scarrmoving.com....your coincidences are somewhat interesting. The best way to get a hold of the sKaar's is to go to their www.fvnorthamerican.com website and email on the fanmail link there. Travis the greenhorn deckhand will probably be the recipient of the email...he manages the technical aspects of their website, and may or may not respond (probably depending on volume....they can't help everyone).

[Michael Caswell]

Doug, and the rest of the crew, THANK YOU for bringing the amazing story of crab fishing to the world.

[Scott Mears]

Has anyone ever tried to feed the crab?

If you took all of the dead crab and the byproducts of the fish processing plants. Then put it into biodegradable bags and dumped it back on the fishing grounds in random areas. Wouldn't the crabs tend to congregate in these areas? From what I understand crabs are scavengers and will eat anything. This would help in locating the crabs and also help in sustaining their numbers and may also increase their average size and weight.

V/R
Scott Mears