FV Kimberly aground in Portage Bay, Alaska
The Coast Guard rescued 11 fishermen from two different vessles in less than 24 hours in extreme weather conditions Wednesday, January 24th including the FV Kimberly pictured above. The entire of state of Alaska has been experiencing brutal weather conditions this winter. From record snowfalls in Valdez and Cordova to growing sea ice in the Bering Sea. Now, the Deadliest Catch fleet is threatened by the approaching ice pack.
According to the Anchorage Daily News, “Sea ice is encroaching unusually early on the central Bering Sea, threatening to grind Alaska’s economically important snow crab fishery to a halt at the peak of the season, leaving crabbers facing major losses.
Earlier-than-expected ice is moving south over prime crabbing grounds, forcing boats away from their catch and putting millions of dollars of equipment in jeopardy.
These kind of “mother nature effects” are part of the fishing business everywhere, said Karen Gillis, the executive director of the Bering Sea Fishermen’s Association.
But this fishery, which was expected to net 80 million pounds this year, hasn’t seen a natural event like this in 20 years, she said, and it could have a devastating economic impact on crabbers and their families.” Read much more on the story here.
According to Channel 2 news in Anchorage, “The NWS is fielding dozens of phone calls a day from crab fishermen, who are looking for an update on where the sea ice is at.
“Most people are picking their pots up and getting them out of harm’s way,” said Jim Stone, president of Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers.
Crab pots can cost over $1,000.
This year’s quota is 90 million pounds, which is a lot more than previous years.
Mid-January is the peak of the snow crab season in Alaska, but it opens in mid-October, and ends May 31.
Fishermen plan on waiting out the weather at local ports.
“A lot of wait and see, and realizing that things can change at any time,” Heather Fitch, the Dutch Harbor area biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game said.” Watch a video newscast of the story here.
Apparently, a person walking the docks in St. Paul Harbor looking for a deckhand job captured this video of the FV Northwestern entering the harbor recently.
The Cornelia Marie crew is home with their families this Thanksgiving and Christmas. This is reason enough to be thankful. Since its the beginning of the holiday season, I am going to pitch you on our gear as great Christmas presents for those die hard Deadliest Catch fans. Of course, nothing against the rest of [...]
The FV Cornelia Marie finished King Crab fishing for this year. The crew has for the most part returned back to their homes in Alaska, Washington and Oregon. The King Crab season officially opened October 15th. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to leave until a few days after the season opened. Our boat had some equipment [...]
I am pleased that Discovery Channel and the Captains of the FV Northwestern and FV Timebandit have worked out their differences. According to this article by the Hollywood Reporter, the Captains state, “We’re happy we worked everything out with Discovery. A deal’s a deal. We’re heading up to Dutch Harbor to start filming the new [...]
My mother, Cornelia Devlin and our crew flew to Kodiak, Alaska on Saturday. The FV Cornelia Marie is tied up in Kodiak, our home port since the boat was built. The crew has been repairing the boat in preparation to go King Crab fishing. This year’s crew is the same one you saw during the [...]
The entire crew of the Cornelia Marie will be at the upcoming Commercial Fishermen’s Festival in Astoria, Oregon. You will have an opportunity to meet all of our crew members – Jake, Josh, Freddie, Steve, Ryan and our skipper, Derrick Ray. They will sign autographs and sell a beautiful new t-shirt created to memorialize Capt. [...]
Keith Arthur Anderson has been missing since Jan. 6th 2010. He was last seen in the Sultan, WA area and his vehicle was found on a remote logging road near Darrington, WA. Keith Anderson is the father of Jake Anderson, one of the deckhands of the F/V Northwestern. The CorneliaMarie.com website first reported on this [...]
The Deadliest Catch did win one Emmy – I believe it was nominated for a total of four awards. “Deadliest Catch” won for outstanding sound mixing for non-fiction programming. The award went to Bob Bronow, re-recording mixer. DC was also nominated for outstanding picture editing for non-fiction programming but did not win. Deadliest Catch lost [...]
Tonight is the last episode of this season of “Deadliest Catch”. Discovery is calling this one “Endless” and provides the following description. “Tension runs high on the Northwestern. Edgar Hansen is fed up with the 22 year marathon of pain, and confronts older brother Sig. Josh Harris returns to the Cornelia Marie and the Opilio [...]
In the video above, Capt. Jim Wilson talks about being stuck in St. Paul with Capt. Phil and the Cornelia Marie this year while crab fishing. Jim was on of the guys Phil wanted to take his place when he had his stroke in February. Jim is currently the skipper of the F/V Cornelia Marie [...]
In this unedited interview available only on the Pat and Tom Show, KNCI website, Producer/Cameraman (and Coloma resident) Todd Stanley talks about the heart wrenching season finale of Deadliest Catch, and remembers his friend, Captain Phil Harris. _____________________________________________________________ [Pat] Yeah, and it was really tough to watch, but at the same time, I’ve told you [...]
Discovery Channel hosted a memorial service for Capt. Phil’s family and friends today. It was an event most agreed Phil would have loved. F/V Cornelia Marie crew members flew in from the Bering Sea to join former crew members and other Bering Sea captains. Many of the “Deadliest Catch” boat captains were in attendance to [...]
Seas 2/Epi 13: “We cheated death one more time. I feel like a one legged man in an ass Kicking contest!” Seas 3/Epi 2: “This ain’t a hamburger stand out here, y’know? This is the real deal and people really die.” Seas 3/Epi 5: “You’re not a man ’til you’ve pulled a tooth out [...]
The following is a Discovery Channel transcript from a live internet chat with Capt. Phil and Josh on May 22, 2007 Discovery: Welcome to this week’s Deadliest Catch chat. Our guests tonight are Phil Harris, Captain of the Cornelia Maria, and his son Josh Harris. Jake Harris isn’t able to be with us tonight, as [...]
