10 Cast Net: Alaskan King Crab Fisherman

Alaskan King Crab Fisherman

Crabbing is the most important of Alaska's commercial shellfish industries. Three kinds of crab - Alaska king, tanner, and Dungeness - are fished commercially in Alaska waters.Foreign boats dominated Alaska's commercial crabbing industry when it began around 1950. Profits were good, and hundreds of U.S. boats quickly moved in. At the peak of the king crab boom in 1980, the so-called "Cadillac of crab fisheries" produced 200 million pounds of crab. Captains regularly earned over $150,000 in a season, crew members commonly brought home shares of over $80,000, and crab boats were equipped with stereo systems, VCRs, microwaves, and occasionally saunas.