Posted on June 7, 2011 - by Morgan Howard

New CM Capt. & Crew for Opies

Deadliest Catch airs tonight on Discovery Channel.  Tonight will be the first show for the Opilio crab season.  The FV Cornelia Marie Blue Crab season ended in a most unexpected way which resulted with our skipper Derrick Ray parting ways with the FV Cornelia Marie.  As a follower of this website, you learned from an earlier blog that we have a new captain and crew members for the Opilio crab season.  Captain Tony Lara replaces Derrick Ray in the wheelhouse.  Engineer Troy Huls replaces Steve Wared.  Lifelong Kodiak fisherman, Dale Pruitt replaces Freddie Maughtai.  We will see an emotional goodbye to Freddie tonight.  There has been much controversy about how the Blue Crab season ended.  New skipper Tony Lara attempts to put some closure on that situation so we can move forward with a new season of fishing.  Tony writes this from his Facebook page:

Crabbing is a tough job in a harsh environment and the ocean has no feelings. It is oblivious to our existence and therefore shows no mercy. As a fisherman, a guy can spend 12 hours doing a grid, looking for a friend in the debris field from a sunken vessel. When they call the search off, there is no pause for mourning. You just look at the plotter and its 20 miles to the next string. When we hit the beach, we ring a bell, drink a beer and move on. I know, it sucks but that is who we are. Crabbers don’t care if they’re pretty, they don’t have refined social skills and they don’t have time to put up with weakness. There is a fine line between confidence and arrogance so often times we come off like assholes, or in my case, a whole ass (Why do something halfway?).
The past season on the Cornelia Marie has certainly created some discussion and polarized people into two different camps. 30 Years ago, Derrick started working on deck for Ralph Collins, Cornelia’s ex-husband. The first boat he ran was one of Ralph and Cornelia’s. There were issues on the boat that could not be ignored and had to be addressed. Often times, it’s not what you say but how you say it. What Derrick lacks in social skills, he more than makes up as a fisherman. Yes, a guy is only as good as his last delivery but during the derby days of crabbing, Derrick consistently caught more crab than anyone else, including Phil. Give the guy a good platform and enough time to fish and he will catch crab.
I have known the Harris brothers for over 20 years. They grew up with me on the boat. I gave Josh his first job on the boat when he was 15. I hired Carl and Millman and Freddy. My advantage over Derrick is I had already earned the crew’s respect so it didn’t matter what came up in the pots. I hauled a lot of blanks working for Phil, too. That’s part of the game. Blanks are good information.
Josh has stepped up and taken on a lot of responsibility but still needs to learn to focus on what’s really important. Jake has the potential to be a good fisherman but needs to address some personal issues first. I want to see these boys succeed and will do what I can to help them, but remember; this is a tough business so coddling them is not an option.
The new season is about to start, bringing an end to the last chapter. Let’s all close the book and move on.

Thank you
Tony Lara