Alaska Crab Fishing

CLAWING IT UP IN ALASKA

Aside from a wide variety of fish, Alaskan waters also serve as a great source of king crabs. Alaska crab fishing is best done in the winter months. This endeavor, however, is best left to professional fishermen skilled at commercial crab fishing as it can be extremely dangerous. Alaska Crab Fishing is most often done commercially and only in short periods. During its peak, hundreds of millions of pounds of crab was produced by fisheries in Alaska. This amount has taken a dip in recent years due to reasons that include among others over fishing, unfit water temperature, and fish predation.

Engaging in Alaska crab fishing can yield catch from three species of king crab. These are the red king crab, the blue king crab, and the golden king crab. Alaska crab fishing are popularly done during the period of October to January. The actual harvest takes only about two to four weeks at a time. As Alaska crab fishing is usually done for commercial purposes, large commercial fishing boats equipped with heavy machinery are used to harvest king crabs. King crabs are caught be large steel traps called pots that are lowered onto the sea floor where the crabs are. These pots are left on the sea floor for days and then lifted up into the fishing boat for the crew to sort.

The danger that crab fishermen face is a lot more serious than being snipped by crab claws. A large number of fatalities are recorded to have occurred in crab fishing endeavors mainly due to drowning, hypothermia or accidents involving heavy machinery.