Hello Fishies!
On last nights episode of Deadliest Catch one of the vignettes was about offloading. The captain of the F/V Wizard gave explicit instructions to his deckhand to watch the weights of each and every brailer. For what ever reason, the youngster left his post and a shouting match between the captain and a processor employee ensued. As usual the show did not give you the reasoning behind the scales needing watched; instead they focused on the drama.
Each fishery has a different method of processing and even unloading. More often than not the product is unloaded by the brailer or bucket and the weight of that brailer is recorded by both the processor and someone from the boat to ensure an even tally.
Sorting and grading by size and condition can come next. For most species there is a better price paid for a larger animal as the rate of return after processing is higher. Smart boat owners and skippers assign someone to watch and record this process as well. This can be critical as the last thing they want is to be given a “smalls” price when in fact the product was a “large”.
Regarding the king crab fishery, some of the crab are sorted and sent directly in to be processed. The large and clean crab can be sent off immediately to live markets which are primarily in Japan. This can become very difficult to keep track of with totes and hysters running this way and that.
When a disagreement about the weights arises, life can get very, very interesting!
Most fishermen know what their tanks will hold and have a good idea of how many pounds that will translate to as it crosses the dock. I have stood on the loading dock and watched as each and every crab was removed from the transportation truck and re-weighed. Lo and behold, there were several thousand pounds of crab there that had not been properly credited to the boat!
There are some processors that bear watching with more intense scrutiny than others. At times it is a single person within the organization that is taking the seafood and selling it on the black market. Sometimes the order comes down from the top. Upon occasion, law enforcement becomes involved and the cannery is closed down, but this is a rarity.
Stay tuned!
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2 comments:
Well Fish Wife I thought I would never say this. What a DUD episode that was. It seems that the show has become sillier and sillier with each episode. That's what happens when you take the why aspect out of it. In several of your blogs at the end you asked I wonder if they will show this or say that. To be honest I had a feeling they would not and they have not. Why you ask, well that actualy has to do with the aspect of crab fishing and not the drama they are looking for. Oh, and as far as the forums go, well, that has become nothing more than a good showing of poor characters.
Well said!
This show has almost nothing to do with fishing and everything to do with a soap opera.
I love your statement about a good showing for poor character. If you don't mind I would like to use it as the subject for a future posting!
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