Time for ‘Deadliest Catch’ to go home
To average Americans sitting in front of their televisions, “Deadliest Catch” is an interesting documentary in a historically ignored industry. However, there has been a big problem developing in one of Alaska’s most iconic fisheries as a result of the show and legislation known as Bering Sea Crab Rationalization. It’s obvious why the show has enjoyed such success, and I commend the captains, crew and boat owners who have been involved in the series over the last decade. But the fleet that appears on “Deadliest Catch” is creating a problem for the 65 or more other crab boats whose crews depend on the Bering Sea crab resource for financial survival but don’t appear on television. Read more here 18:44 alaskadispatch
The sad fact is that the loss of the jobs and income from these fisheries have been a disaster for the rural communities of Western Alaska that supported and helped develop these fisheries. The loss of so much of the public income from this US resource is both a crime and a tragedy. I am dismayed by the predatory leasing that has turned once proud fishermen into suicidal sharecroppers. The fishing vessel should own the quota…period.
These quota systems aren’t rational at all and have completely devalued the talent and hard work of the many fishermen that helped to build the infrastructure of the industry and were forced out by greedy management. I have never been pro labor union in the past but I can’t see another way to fix this.