Deadliest Catch article in Men’s Journal Magazine Part 2

Greetings Fishies!

Warning – graphic language!

More excerpts from the article:

“In the hey day of crabbing, says Jonathan Hillstrand, who co-owns a Deadliest Catch boat called the Time Bandit, an ordinary deckhand could make six figures. “I was making $120 grand a year then,” he told me, “and blowing it all on women and marijuana and cocaine. I always got the presidential suite with the hot tub.” That was in the early 1980’s, when Hillstrand was 17. The king crab peaked in 1980 at 12.9 million pounds, then crashed completely, and has been in a slow recovery since 1983.

“Sig Hansen’s biggest rival on Deadliest Catch is none other than Jonathan Hillstrand, of the Time Bandit, which he owns with his brothers. Now 44 years old, Hillstrand is broad-boned , with scraggly long hair, a full goatee and a hooligan’s smirk. Hillstrand usually wears a black leather USA jacket in the wheelhouse, with a black baseball cap turned backward and white snakeskin cowboy boots, and is not shy about expressing his opinions, especially those pertaining to Hansen, whom he deems “a pretty boy.”

“Sig’s a dumbass,” Hillstrand told me as he polished off one shot of Crown Royal after another in a cramped Unalaska bar called Latitudes. * “If I hit him, his grandchildren would be stupid.”

“As a captain, Hillstrand enjoys near-Ahab omnipotence, as well as responsibility. “Being a captain is almost like being above the law. I could kill five people by fucking up on the ocean and then just go get five more guys. If you killed five guys on land, with a car, you’d get manslaughter, at least.”

“With vague coherency he began describing the troubles he’s had with his help. “I’ve beat up a few crew members. It’s not a good thing, the lawsuits and shit, but one time I beat up some guys on my crew. One of them brought some booze onboard, and he was urinating in the stateroom. Then (after some fisticuffs) the whole crew tried to mutiny, so I just took ‘em to town, and told them, ‘Well, motherfuckers, if you think you’re gonna sue, shut the fuck up, because I’m gonna beat your ass.’ I was pretty fuckin pissed.”

Donohue then goes on to describe Hillstrands behavior with the bartender – lobing quarters at her cleavage – and a joke so offensive that I can’t bring myself to reprint it.

Donahue continues: “He downed one last shot, then abruptly shifted gears. “Twenty drinks is my limit. I’m drunk. I’m drunker than 25 Indians. I’m going home.”

Apparently Donahue was there when the Time Bandit received her safety inspection from the Coast Guard. One item that needed attention was the medical kit. He adds in that every crab boat must, by law, carry a crew member trained in First Aid, ready to perform a tracheotomy or a thumb amputation if need be. He captures some of the banter between the brothers, but makes them sound like fools.

He continues:

“Senator Stevens’ rationalization plan has created a new sea creature; the rich, shore hugging crabman. To make money now, a crab boat owner who no longer needs to b other with hiring crew and starting his engine; instead he can rent his quota, which he effectively owns, to another boat owner, who will then fish for crab. One such “crab-lord” is former captain Larry Hendricks, who now works as a consultant for Deadliest Catch. “I just pay another boat a dollar a pound to catch my crab”, he said…..The crewmen and captains who do the fishing will run all the risk for their buck a pound. “I’ll make about $300,000 this season,” Hendricks guessed, “just sitting on the beach.”

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It’s my understanding that Bill Donahue was in Unalaska for quite some time. During his visit there he interviewed at length the majority of those involved in the Deadliest Catch. What he chose to write and the way that he did it was, in my opinion, underhanded. Let’s remember that the boats were tied up at the beginning of the king crab season due to a price dispute with the processors. The majority of the guys gathered at the local watering holes and did what most bored fishermen I know do – got hammered. Rest assured that Donahue was throwing them back right along with everyone else, he just didn’t write about that.

Throughout the article there are references to other fishermen and his description of them is both unflattering and demeaning. Looks like Donahue just plain doesn’t like fishermen.

Stay tuned!

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*Formerly known as The Elbow Room