Sea Sick!

Hello Fishies!

Here is a very important topic that you don’t often find discussed. Almost everyone suffers from seasickness at one time or another, and believe me it is unlike anything you have ever experienced. Most of those who experience it pray for death, it's that bad!

Almost all of those involved in Deadliest Catch have it when they first put to sea. The former engineer on the Cornelia Marie was legendary for two things: he was a world class chef and never had one moments respite from seasickness.

Seasickness is one area that will never be shown to you on this series. Why? Because we humans have a tendency to sympathize with the sufferer to the point that we will join them in their misery. Can't have you puking while you are watching TV!

From Wikipedia:

Seasickness is a form of motion sickness characterized by a feeling of nausea and, in extreme cases, vertigo experienced after spending time on a craft on water. It is typically brought on by the rocking motion of the craft, but people who are particularly vulnerable to the condition can feel seasick simply by setting foot on a boat, even if the vessel is in dry dock.

Seasickness can be a debilitating condition and can be dangerous if the sufferer has an important role to carry out, such as steering a yacht through stormy seas while avoiding rocks and other hazards.

Cause

Human beings instinctively seek to remain upright by keeping their centre of gravity over their feet. The most important way this is achieved is by visual reference to surrounding objects, such as the horizon. Seasickness often results from the visual confusion on a moving craft, when nearby objects move with the motion of the craft. Because the lines of the masts, windows, and furniture on a ship are constantly shifting with respect to fixed references, humans can suffer a number of afflictions, especially those unaccustomed to being at sea.

Sea-sickness has such a remarkable effect because both the sense of sight and touch are disturbed by the motion of a craft on water. The severity of seasickness is also influenced by the irregular pressure of the bowels against the diaphragm as they shift with the rising and falling of the ship.

Many experience similar effects while not at sea:

• in railway carriages
• in automobiles
• on swings
• while looking from a lofty precipice where known objects, being distant, are viewed under a new aspect and not so readily recognized
• while walking on a wall or roof
• while looking directly up to a roof
• while observing the stars in the zenith
• on walking into a round room, where there are no perpendicular lines of light and shade and the walls and ceiling are covered with an irregularly-spotted design
• on twirling round, as in waltzing
• while watching video captured by an unsteady camera
• carnival rides (my addition)
  

Prevention and remedy

Over-the-counter and prescription medications such as dramamine and scopolamine (as transdermal patches and tablets) are readily available. Ginger capsules are also considered effective in preventing motion sickness. Some sufferers find that wearing special wristbands helps stave off the condition.

Those suffering from seasickness who are unaccustomed to the motion of a ship often find relief by:

• keeping their eyes directed to the fixed shore or horizon, where possible
• lying down on their backs and closing their eyes
• drinking any substance that is likely to temporarily diminish their senses of sight and touch
• move into a position where fresh air is blowing on their face
• sucking on crystallised ginger, sipping ginger tea or taking a capsule of ginger.
• keeping near the centre of the boat where any rocking motion is least pronounced
• taking the helm of a yacht can reduce sickness as the sufferer has something to concentrate on, and can also anticiptate the movement of the vessel

Unlike with a hangover, succumbing to nausea normally does not relieve the symptoms of seasickness, and, once started, is often difficult to stop.

A "Coast Guard cocktail" is a prescribed combination of drugs used to combat seasickness. Traditionally the cocktail base is promethazine, an antihistamine that is used specifically to prevent motion sickness. Because of the drowsiness associated with this drug, a stimulant is added to complete the cocktail. Traditionally the stimulant is either ephedrine or pseudoephedrine. There are other combinations of drugs used to prevent seasickness but they are not generally referred to as the "Coast Guard cocktail".

Motion Sickness or kinetosis is a condition in which the fluid in the semicircular canals of the inner ear becomes agitated. This causes disagreement between the apparent visually perceived lack of movement and the inner ear's sense of actual movement. Depending on the cause it can also be referred to as seasickness, carsickness, simulation sickness, airsickness, or space sickness.

Dizziness, fatigue, and nausea are the most common symptoms of motion sickness. In fact, nausea in Greek means seasickness (naus means ship). If the motion causing nausea is not resolved, the sufferer will frequently vomit within twenty minutes. Unlike ordinary sickness, vomiting in motion sickness tends not to relieve the nausea.

About one third of people are susceptible to motion sickness in mild circumstances such as being on a boat in calm water, although nearly two thirds of people are susceptible in more severe conditions. Approximately half of the astronauts in the U.S. space program have suffered from space sickness.

Motion sickness on the sea can result from being in the berth of a rolling boat without being able to see the horizon. Sudden jerky movements tend to be worse for provoking motion sickness than slower smooth ones, because they disrupt the fluid balance more. A "corkscrewing" boat will upset more people than one that is gliding smoothly across the oncoming waves. Cars driving rapidly around winding roads or up and down a series of hills will upset more people than cars that are moving over smooth, straight roads. Looking down into one's lap to consult a map or attempting to read a book while a passenger in a car may also bring on motion sickness.

The most common theory for the cause of motion sickness is that it evolved as a defence mechanism against neurotoxins. The area postrema in the brain is responsible for inducing vomiting when poisons are detected, and for resolving conflicts between vision and balance. When feeling motion but not seeing it (for example, in a ship with no windows), the inner ear transmits to the brain that it senses motion, but the eyes tell the brain that everything is still. The area postrema will always believe the inner ear signal over the eyes, as the eyes are more susceptible to trickery. As a result, the brain will come to the conclusion that one is hallucinating and further conclude that the hallucination is due to poison ingestion. The brain responds by inducing vomiting, to clear the supposed toxin.

Here is a great site for more information:

http://seasickness.co.uk/

Stay tuned!

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Discovery's 'Deadliest Catch' heads for the ice ... and danger

Hello Fishies!

From the Jamaica Gleaner:

The next time you pay the check for a plate of tasty crab in a seafood restaurant, you may want to take a moment to think about the true price of that meal.

Out on the icy, unforgiving Behring Sea off Alaska, that price is often paid in sweat and pain ... and in lives.

On Tuesday, April 3, Discovery Channel premieres the third season of its Emmy-nominated series Deadliest Catch, which follows the captains and crews of fishing boats as they head into Arctic waters in the late autumn and winter in search of king and opilio crab.

Says Capt. Johnathan Hillstrand of the Time Bandit, "A lot of people say to me, 'Sorry, I didn't know you guys risked your lives to get this crab on my plate.' "

In the show's very first season, which launched in the spring of 2005, the Big Valley went to the bottom of the ocean, claiming the lives of six fishermen.

For executive producer Thom Beers, it was a very personal loss.

"Those guys were friends of mine," he recalls. "I did another special for Discovery, three years before that, called The Mystery of the Alaskan Mummies. I leased the Big Valley, with all those guys.

"Gary Edwards, the skipper of that boat, was an amazing guy. He was a jazz musician, one of those people who was very cultured and bright.

"At the last minute, he went out because it was the last year of the quotas, and if he fished it, he could hold onto a slice of the annual quota. So he went out to sea.

Crab grounds

"If I'd known he was going, you bet your life I'd have put a crew on that boat. They didn't even get out to the crab grounds, and that boat got hit by a big wave and went down."

In the opening episode of this season, the Coast Guard searches for the crew of the 49-foot Ocean Challenger, which capsized in October 2006. Two of the crew died, one was injured and one was lost.

"The Behring Sea makes a promise," Beers says, "that it will never disappoint you. Better yet, it will always disappoint you, because it's extraordinarily violent and volatile that time of year."

Stay tuned!

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KILLER CRABS WHY 'DEADLIEST CATCH' IS TV'S MOST DANGEROUS SHOW

Hello Fishies!

This article appeared in the New York Post:

By DON KAPLAN

March 30, 2007 -- 'DEADLIEST Catch" is the only reality show where someone is almost guaranteed to die each season.

The show follows the hardships and occasionally tragic ends of fishermen working hundreds of miles off the coast of Alaska in some of the world's most violent waters. It has been a staple on the Discovery Channel for three years.

"It's got to be the dumbest place to work in January," says executive producer Thom Beers.

"It's all about the working class guy," says Beers of both the fishermen and the camera crews he sends out to sea with them. "These are guys who go out and earn a living. What they're doing is modern-day prospecting and nature, in all its violence, is the great leveler. It's about how a working-class guy makes it rich."

The latest season starts on Tuesday.

Depending on the catch, fishermen can make nearly $10,000 in a week - or almost nothing. Little has been said, however, about the production crews who make the harrowing journey each year to film the dangers on a fleet of crab boats.

Each ship frequently battles 60-foot waves, while the crews work outside during the wild storms that toss around 1,000-lb. steel crab traps like toys and leave tons of ice clinging to the already unbalanced fishing boats.

Occasionally sleep-deprived fishermen slide off of the slick, rolling decks or worse. If someone gets their legs tangled in the ropes attached to the traps, they're instantly dragged down to the sea bottom, never to be seen again.

Statistically, each year at least one crewman who sails with the Alaska crab fleet will not be coming back. By the second episode of this season, three men are dead, killed when their boat sinks into the icy waters.

The men who film the show assume the same risks. "Normally it's guys between the ages of 25 and 30 who are looking for this great adventure and come from this pool of adventure cameramen who have been doing this sort of thing for years on shows like 'Survivor' ," says Beers. After the show was nominated for a cinematography Emmy last year, more seasoned cameramen have applied for the job.

So far, none of the cameramen have been seriously hurt, but the job is not for the fainthearted. Each season, about $250,000 to $300,000 worth of high-definition TV production equipment is destroyed by seawater and the extreme weather. Sometimes the cameras are sacrificed so that the operator can survive.

"Two years ago one of the boats caught fire [it was put out] but a few days later another one, The Big Valley, went down. Between the fire and then the loss of a ship, the guy we had on the boat that caught fire was so freaked out he locked himself in his cabin and didn't come out for eight days," says Beers.

Stay tuned!

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Working in Alaska

Hello Fishies!

With Deadliest Catch Season 3 beginning to air, I thought this might be a good time to talk seriously about getting a job in the seafood industry. Every year the viewership has grown and I am sure that this year will be no different. That being said, the number of people wanting a spot on one of the Bering Sea boats will increase exponentially.

The possibility of someone who has no sea time or experience actually landing a job on one of the Alaska highliners is very slim. I would urge you instead to see what is available in an area nearer to you. Most fishermen work their way up from processing to gill net or other salmon fisheries, to tuna boats and so on.

Today I will concentrate more on processing jobs.

This person has put together a nice little website about his summer working for Pederson Point Seafoods, a processor in Bristol Bay. There is a ton of information and photos relating to the work and the area.

PPT-2003

Here are some other processors:

Yardarm Knot Inc. | Home

Trident Seafoods :: Home

Deep Sea Fisheries, Inc. owns and provides management services to fishing and processing vessels. Offers quality seafood products and commercial fishing employment.

While the following sites are full of good information, they make some promises that they probably won’t be able to keep. Be aware that some charge a fee for their services!

Alaska Jobs, Alaska Fishing & Deckhand Jobs - Alaska Job Finder

Alaska Fishing Jobs Clearinghouse

Alaska fishing jobs Home

Deep Sea Fishermen's Union

State employment sites:

Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development

Alaska Job Center Network

Stay tuned!

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Attack of the Crab Monsters

Greetings Fishies!

Just because I know that some of you will enjoy this:

Any of you see this gem while you were growing up?

Stay tuned!

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Hired Masters

Hello Fishies!

In prior blogs I let you know that some of the vessels involved in Deadliest Catch are not owner operated. The skipper of those vessels is called a hired master. Here is some information about that:

What is a Hired Master?

A “Hired Master” is an individual who, at the request of an IFQ Permit holder, and on approval by NMFS, has been authorized to fish another person’s specific IFQ permit. Some IFQ permit holders must use Hired Masters to fish their IFQ; some may use Hired Masters, and some types of IFQ may never be fished by Hired Masters, (i.e. the IFQ permit holder must personally be on board).

Who must use a Hired Master to fish their crab IFQ permit(s)?

• All non-individual entities (corporations, partnerships, crab harvesting cooperatives, etc.) that hold crab IFQ permits must use NMFS-authorized Hired Masters to fish their IFQ permits. Even if you are a shareholder, partner, or member of the IFQ permit holder, the IFQ permit holder must formally obtain authorization from NMFS to use that shareholder, partner, or member as its Hired Master.
• Any IFQ assigned to a crab harvesting cooperatives must be fished by a Hired Master authorized for the cooperative’s IFQ permits and vessels.

Who may use a Hired Master to fish their crab IFQ permit(s)?

Individuals holding CVO or CPO IFQ permits are not required to use a Hired Master and may choose to be on board the vessel and harvest their own IFQ crab. However, any individual who holds a CVO or CPO IFQ permit may hire a master to fish his/her IFQ as long as he or she owns at least 10% of the vessel on which the IFQ crab is to be harvested.

What types of crab IFQ may NOT be fished by a Hired Master?

“Crew” or “Captain” IFQ (CVC and CPC types), if held by an individual—not assigned to a cooperative, may only be fished by the IFQ permit holder and may not be fished by a Hired Master. CVC and CPC IFQ assigned to a cooperative must be fished by that cooperative’s hired master.

How do I obtain authorization for a Hired Master to fish my crab IFQ permit(s)?

If you are an IFQ permit holder eligible to use a Hired Master (see above), you must apply to NMFS for approval by submitting the form “Application for Crab IFQ Hired Master Permit” (Application). The application is available from the Restricted Access Management (RAM) Program at 1-800-304-4846 (option #2), or online at: http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/sustainablefisheries/crab/rat/ram/hiredskipperapp.pdf. You must submit an Application for each combination of individual Master, IFQ permit fished, and each vessel used. Therefore, you will have to submit another Application when you wish to add, delete, or change individuals, IFQ permits, and/or vessels.

As a Hired Master for a crab harvesting cooperative, do I need to be present on the vessel during fishing operations?

Yes, the Hired Master must be present on the vessel during fishing operations

As a Hired Master for a crab harvesting cooperative, do I need to be present, on the vessel or at the processing plant, during the entire off-load?

Yes, the Hired Master must remain at the facility until the relevant crab IFQ account is debited.

Does a Hired Master fishing for a cooperative, or a non-cooperative IFQ permit holder need to be present when delivering Class B IFQ?

Yes.

Stay tuned!

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Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak

Hello Fishies!

One job that certainly does not get the attention it deserves is that of the US Coast Guard. It appears that they are in the process of re-vamping their website, check it out!

From the Coast Guard website:

Air Station History... in a nut shell

Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak is a Seventeenth Coast Guard District (D17) unit on beautiful Kodiak Island approximately 250 miles southwest of Anchorage, Alaska. The Air Station was commissioned as an Air Detachment April 17, 1947 with one PBY Catalina aircraft, seven pilots, and thirty crewmen. It represented the first permanent Coast Guard aviation resource in Alaska. The Air Station is the major tenant of Integrated Support Command (ISC) Kodiak, and the largest Coast Guard command in D17 and the entire Pacific Area (PACAREA). The present complement of HC-130H's, HH-60J's, HH-65A's aids in completing our mission and saving lives.

Our Mission

The primary mission of Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak is to provide aircraft and crews in support of the Coast Guard's core missions which include: Search and Rescue (SAR) operations, covering 4 million square miles including the Gulf of Alaska, Bristol Bay, Bering Sea, and the Pacific Ocean above 40N latitude; Enforcement of Laws and Treaties (ELT), primarily focused on the nation's most active fisheries; logistical support of isolated D17 units; Marine Environmental Protection (MEP); Aids to Navigation (ATON); Military Defense; disaster control services and relief; and assistance to numerous local, state, and federal agencies. The HC-130H and HH-60J aircraft serve as the primary SAR response assets.

HH-65B Dolphin Helicopters

HH-65B helicopters augment Alaska Patrols (ALPAT) by deploying aboard 378’ High Endurance Cutters to make our presence known to the outer edges of the largest operational area of responsibility in the Coast Guard (over 3.9 million square miles). Supported by extremely motivated and professional ALPAT maintenance personnel, HH-65A Helicopters achieve a remarkable 98% availability during deployments. Without that type of support, operational effectiveness on the high seas would be substantially diminished.

HH-60J Jayhawk Helicopters

Protection of living marine natural resources doesn’t end with the close monitoring of U.S. and International fishing fleets far from Kodiak. Air Station HH-60J crews remain intensely involved with state and local officials to equally ensure nearby sea-lion rookeries remain unmolested, halibut fishery openings and closings are closely monitored for violators, and local herring fisheries are properly conducted.

HC-130H Hercules Fixed-Wing

In addition to Search and Rescue operations and Fisheries Law Enforcement patrols, the Air Station flies missions involving logistic support of outlying Coast Guard units as far as Barrow to the north and Attu to the west, deployed helicopter SAR support out of Cordova from April through September, and support of federal agencies throughout the state.

Maintenance

Air Station Kodiak's maintenance professionals "keep'em flying". Keeping aircraft mission capable in some of the most demanding weather conditions found anywhere in the world requires a special sense of dedication and commitment. With aircraft availability rates that routinely surpass Commandant requirements, the men and women of Air Station Kodiak continue to meet this challenge. Aviation enlisted personnel can expect to be assigned to one of the three airframe types (C-130, H-60, H-65) at Kodiak. Assignment to ALPAT (H-65) is normally a second tour of duty for qualified aircrew members.

Air Station Awards

Air Station continues to be recognized nationally for the accomplishments of the crew. Recent awards include; the 2002 Naval Helicopter Award for Aircrew of the Year, the Seventeenth CoastGuard District Operational Excellence Award for a Large Unit, 2001 Association of Naval Aviators Award for Helicopter Aviation, the 2001 National Defense Transportation Association Unit Award, and a Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Award in 2000. Individual recognition includes presentation of the prestigious Admiral Bender, Admiral Hayes, and Admiral Gracey awards.

The officers and enlisted men and women of Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak have consistently demonstrated heroism and professionalism, remaining SEMPER PARATUS to serve their country, and more closely to home, the people of the great state of Alaska.

USCG Air Station Kodiak - U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Stay tuned!

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Lights! Camera! Action! But where are the groupies?

Greetings Fishies!

Here is a short piece that ran in the March issue of Pacific Fishing Magazine:

While fishermen featured on Deadliest Catchy may enjoy being inundated with fan mail and marketed on a variety of merchandise, their fellow fishermen have mixed feelings about the series.

Many find it ironic that the series is filming now, after the crab rationalization program and federal buyout of boats has so dramatically changed the nature of the industry. They joke about crabbing “back when it was safe,” and say it would be interesting to see a re-creation of some of the stories from the “Wild West” days of the 1960s and ‘70s. At that time, huge quotas and the “race to fish” led to months of grueling non-stop fishing.

Few fishermen are willing to go on record as critical of the show, however, not wanting to seem envious of others’ “15 minutes of fame.”

One fisherman from a contingent of Norwegian-American crab pioneers summed up the doubts of many: “They are looking for tragedy. That’s what sells,” said Lloyd Johannessen.

“They also glamorize it so much,” Johannessen added, “I get all kinds of calls from guys wanting to go crabbing.”

“You get young guys in Missouri, out dry-walling, and they come home and watch Deadliest Catch and think, ‘Oh, yeah.”

Stay tuned!

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Psychological Effects

Greetings Fishies!

Here is the final part of the series:

So, what happens when the dust settles? What are the long-term emotional and psychological effects on those with extreme jobs? Why is it that those who regularly put their lives in danger tend to stop at a relatively early age? Take Formula One drivers for instance; by their early thirties they are retiring, often complaining of an enhanced sense of their own mortality, and the responsibilities of life becoming too important to them to continue risking their lives every week. Psychologist Sally Baker has an answer:

“Those under excessive stress or trauma tend to deal with it in different ways. Common reactions include denial or repression of those uncomfortable thoughts or memories or indeed, ‘acting out’, whereby the individual behaves in a way they know is wrong or inappropriate, something which may be construed as not actually coping at all.”

That’s one thing we haven’t covered in our examination of these extreme people. Sometimes, they don’t cope at all. Stress reactions to traumatic events can occur straight away, or they can be delayed for hours, weeks or even years. And when it happens, it’s not always pretty.

Psychologists distinguish between thoughts, feelings, behaviours, and physical symptoms. For example, a feeling of disorientation after an accident can lead to feelings of anger and frustration, which can lead to restless behaviour, and the physical symptom of a rapid heart rate. This could happen at any point after the event, and it’s important to remember that these symptoms usually come from the body and mind coming to terms with what’s happened, rather than being unable to cope. In any doubt, the overall advice is to seek professional help. Gareth English says,

“For some, if their support system becomes insufficient or changes, then the pressure may become too much. Long-term pressure that is not outweighed by support is thought to be linked to a number of health problems.”

You can’t deny that one good way of coming to terms with the death or injury of a fellow worker is humour. Psychologist Stephanie Longridge has worked extensively with the fire service and has an interesting insight,

“In my experience when [firefighters] talk about a colleague who has died, they joke about it, taking the mickey and seeing the lighter side. It’s not disrespectful – it’s just the way they have found to cope.”

Finally - for the kinds of thrill-seeking risk takers we’ve been talking about, one of the long term impacts could well be that they simply run out challenges, run out of adrenalin fuelled activities, and start to take unnecessary risks to get their fix of danger. Gareth English of OPP has a final word here:

“The long term effects vary. For those who were attracted by the thrill of the job, they may find it becomes mundane. They then seek out something more exciting, and can find themselves taking increasingly unnecessary risks.”

Stay tuned!

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Coping Strategies

Hello Fishies!

When you think of the excitement of an extreme job where the profits may be huge, and you’re living on a knife-edge, it’s easy to forget that these people have to cope with enormous pressure and stress. So how do they cope? Are there any mechanisms we normal mortals can learn to help us deal with the stresses and strains of everyday life?

The first and perhaps most important point to mention is that these people will be well equipped to deal with stress to start off with. Only people with a tendency towards these kinds of activity will be involved with them, and that’s a special type of person, says Edna Agbarha – Head of Talent Management for Right Coutts, the Management Consultancy,

“These people are most likely to be extrovert characters who need to be stimulated by external forces all the time. Often they will be less of a team player, more of an individual, and very ambitious – you could say they are not the kinds of people who like routine.”

So these people seem to need excitement just to stay ticking over – you could say that the only way they can feel alive is to risk death.

Psychology as a discipline has identified numerous ways people could cope with trauma or stress. They range from denial – where a person may deny that an event has even occurred, to compartmentalisation – where a person may simply separate different parts of their life into ‘compartments’ to enable them to cope. It’s hard, for example, to imagine a crab fisherman coming home after being at sea in a force eight wind, and having the same attitude to his wife and children as he had out to sea – he will put that aside and try and forget.

Another explanation for people coping with extreme jobs could be the attitude towards the job. Gareth English, Senior Consultant for OPP, the business psychology consultancy, has something to say here,

“Although to many, these dangerous jobs may appear too terrifying to even contemplate, those who do them often find the work exciting rather than stressful. Others manage the work pressure through the support they receive, from friends, family, colleagues or clients. For fire-fighters, for example, knowing that they are making a difference to people can outweigh the stress.”

There are two new reasons to separate out there, one is that those in extreme jobs may weigh up the danger to themselves against the good they are doing for society, like firefighters, or policemen may well do. The other is even more interesting, and takes up Edna Agbarha’s earlier point: it may well be that these people don’t find their job dangerous, but exciting, they don’t feel nervous, instead they get a rush. Surely we can all learn from this – being able to convert nervous energy into excitement must be a great life skill to have.

Stay tuned!

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High Octane Psychology

Hello Fishies!

More from DC UK:

Everyone thinks there can be only one reason to do an extreme job: money. Psychologist Shane Pressey, Partner at Human Qualities, has studied the mindset of another set of extreme job holders - championship motorcycle riders - and has found that there’s more to it than just the cash.

The Human Qualities study measured competitiveness, independence, ambition, and need for acclaim (and other traits). Not surprisingly, the motorcycle riders had high scores on competitiveness – you don’t take a corner at 120 miles per hour without wanting to win – but more interestingly they also scored highly on the ‘need for variety’ category. Maybe these adrenalin junkies simply get bored easily and need to take absurd risks just to keep themselves interested?

The constant need for change and interest may well be one of the key motivators for people to take on these extreme jobs. The independence factor is also important – the sense of being in charge of your own destiny. Whether you’re out on a fishing boat, or racing a motorcycle you need to rely on yourself first and foremost to keep safe. The Human Qualities study reveals independence as a key trait. If you rely on others too much, there’s always the chance they could let you down and with extreme professions the margin for error is nil.

One key factor behind taking an extreme job is optimism. The study revealed that those with this type of extreme job have a very high optimism rating. This is not the blind ‘keep smiling’ attitude of the grinning idiot, it’s a firmly held belief system about what causes good or bad events. These extreme job holders may simply believe that they are due some good luck, or that they can create it. As Thomas Jefferson famously said, ‘I find the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have’.

Finally let’s not discount money completely – if you could earn millions of dollars in three hours and then spend a couple of weeks in hospital, you might well be tempted. This kind of objectivity where pain is concerned is easier to understand when you learn that some involved with high octane pursuits like jockeys and motorcycle riders have learned to ‘switch off’ pain, in some cases teaching their bodies to fall unconscious before they hit a tyre wall, or are trampled by a speeding horse. Let’s face it – we would all like to be able to do that!

Stay tuned!

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The psychological effects of extreme jobs

Greetings Fishies!

The next few blogs will cover a series that runs on Discovery Channel’s UK website. While some of it is a bit dated, I found the psychological matter interesting and thought you might too.

"Year after year, generation after generation, the young men of Alaska sail out to treacherous seas to do one of the ultimate extreme jobs – crab fishing.

The prize is big – crab meat is amongst the most prized in the world, but so are the risks. There is a 100% injury rate and deaths occur among the fishermen every week.

But what makes these people tick? Why do they endanger their lives daily when they have families at home? And what are the consequences for those who live on the edge so often?

Discovery investigates the psychological effects of extreme jobs and finds out that it’s not always about the money.

Risks and Rewards

Every October, 250 boats gathering in Alaska's Dutch Harbour, waiting for a radio announcement that can seal their fate. These are crab fishermen, and they're chasing one of the ocean's great prizes - the king crab, one of North America's most popular delicacies. The rewards for a successful season can be immense. In 2004, the Alaskan boats caught 15.4 million pounds (6.8 million kilograms) of crab worth US$65.8 million. On a really successful boat, one fisherman might earn as much as US$100,000 for only five days work.

But the risks are enormous too. Fishermen everywhere have the most dangerous jobs on the planet. In Europe, fishermen are fifty times more likely to die while working than any other profession - a statistic which is mirrored in every country where boats take to the high seas in search of food for their populations. Extreme weather at sea puts these men in almost constant peril from drowning, hypothermia and severe injuries from nets, ropes and heavy equipment. And as fish and shellfish populations decline, they are forced to travel further from home in the hope of filling their freezers, often exposing themselves to the planet's harshest weather for weeks at a time.

Alaska's crab fishermen are among the most endangered of their kind. Their fishing season is short - perhaps as short as four days, and rarely more than twelve days. But in those few frantic days, they may have to endure forty-foot (12 metre) waves, 80mph (128kph) winds and the constant risk of being slammed by a swinging 700lb (318kg) steel crab trap. 20-hour shifts are common, usually in sub-zero temperatures and on slippery decks that are constantly pitching at perilous angles. Nearly every Alaskan crab fisherman returns to shore with some kind of injury: crushed hands and fingers, broken ribs and limbs. And in the worst accidents, people die: over 80% of them from drowning as a result of being washed overboard by the impossibly fierce seas.

These stories are by no means unique to Alaska. Everywhere in the world's cold oceans, fishermen withstand these unimaginably difficult working conditions, or worse. And for the skippers of these boats, these risks live alongside a constant economic threat to their livelihoods. Boats capable of withstanding conditions in the wild, freezing open oceans cost millions of dollars to build and many thousands of dollars a year to maintain. Before any fishing boat makes a profit, it has to pay for repairs, spare parts, fuel, food, bait and ice to freeze the catch. Nets and traps, the basic tools of the fishing trade, can cost thousands of dollars alone, and are often lost at sea.

Stay tuned!

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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.”

**********

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

Deadliest Catch article in Men’s Journal Magazine, Part 1

Hello Fishies!

The April 2007 edition of Men’s Journal is on the stands now. On page 82 begins an article written by Bill Donahue about some of the captains and crews of the boats involved in the television show Deadliest Catch.

The Most Dangerous Game

Beneath the headline it reads:

“The hard-drinking crab fishermen of Dutch Harbor, Alaska – proud owners of the most dangerous job this side of Fallujah – are the surprise stars of Deadliest Catch, America’s wildest reality show. But have the TV crews come to praise these rugged men, or to bury them?”

Donahue begins with the story of Cache Seel and the sinking of the Big Valley, segueing into the popularity of the TV show. He states that this year the show should reach about 4 million viewers in this it’s third year. As Discovery Channel’s top rated show he finds no surprise that kids dress up as DC crabbers for Halloween. There is a bit of the history of the rationalization program as background for this article.

Last fall Donohue decided to “take the measure of the newly spawned stars of the Deadliest Catch,” and “see how an ancient industry us weathering the media age.” He flew into Dutch Harbor in October for “what is arguably the tensest moment of the king crab season: the prelude. Hundreds of crab fishermen were gathered in town preparing for the season as the cameras rolled: drinking and kvetching, drinking and mending crab pots, and drinking some more. And when the booze flows among fishermen, I learned, things can get pretty weird.”

He goes on to describe Dutch as a harsh place, noting the lack of trees and the relentless wind. The scenery he describes is that of discarded anchors, spools of old rope, and muddy tangles of fishing line scattered everywhere by the roadside. The figures he cites are already well known: 83 men died, out of less than 2,000 participating, in the crab seasons during the 1990’s. He gives this as the reasoning behind the “arcane superstitions” of the crabbers.

If you are die hard fans of Sig Hansen and John Hillstrand, stop reading now. The rest of the article ain’t pretty….

Donahue on being “granted an audience” with Sig Hansen while filming a scene for photo-shoot purposes: “But up close he isn’t quite the scruffy, unshaven hunk we see on TV; Hansen’s hair is thinning a bit, his skin is somewhat pasty, and while he isn’t exactly fat, it’s clear that his exercise regime involves a lot of sitting around in the wheelhouse, smoking Camels. He wore a wrinkled Hawaiian shirt, the collar open to reveal a gold necklace, and he seemed keenly cognizant that the circling camera crews held the power to shape his celebrity future.”

“Hansen needed no encouragement to keep talking. “I have people stopping me on the street,” he said as his boat steered itself on autopilot. “They recognize me just seeing my back. We have a fan base, and yeah, there’s been some opportunities.”

Later in the article: “Hansen is not exactly popular among his fishing colleagues, perhaps because he won the $250,000 bonus for the top-producing boat on the Deadliest Catch. Keith Colburn, owner/captain of a boat called the Wizard, fumed that Hansen has become arrogant and selfish. “One year I set him on a hot spot and gave him the charts for the area. I helped him out. I basically dialed him in 100 per cent, but he has never reciprocated.”

Hansen also guards his celebrity status. According to Larry Hendricks “When he found out I was made a consultant for Deadliest Catch, he went apeshit. He didn’t want me shaping the show. He feared that I could bring his world crumbling down, and he wanted his name listed on the credits above mine.” Hansen is the only active boat captain whom Deadliest Catch recognizes as a consultant.

“In Dutch, Hansen seemed to trail a dark aura behind him wherever he went. Once I saw him step into a bar, his blond hair perfectly coiffed….'Mr. Movie Star', I heard one crabber snort in disdain. “I think the fame has gone to his head,” said Ragnhild Moncrief (F/V FarWest Leader). “I went to his Christmas part last year and now he doesn’t even say hi to me. I guess he doesn’t like Norwegian women anymore.”

Donahue describes his encounter with Hansen in the bar of the Grand Aleutian Hotel while brother Norman “hovered nearby”:

“Hansen had his drinking money, a few twenties, laid out on the bar before him, and he was already yelling “My head fucking hurts,” he complained to the bartender. “Give me drugs.” Soon Hansen had eight tablets of ibuprofen in his palm. He downed the pills, gulping a chaser of vodka, and then he turned to me. Snatching my notebook out of my hand, he began batting me on the nose with it, cooing a singsongy taunt. “You’re trying to be professional,” he said “but you’re not. You’re silly. You’re silly.” He leaned in toward me, alarmingly close, and clenched his arm around my shoulder. Then he breathed hotly into my ear and rained kisses onto my neck. When I pried him off me, protesting, his brother Norman just laughed. “You haven’t been around Sig when he’s drinking,” he said.

Later, another crabber gave me a photo of Sig Hansen kissing the lips of a man with a beard. The man, I’d learn, was a Deadliest Catch staffer who was also apparently assailed out of the blue.

“Sig does that to bully people,” the crabber told me. “He’s mean.”

Next: Jonathan Hillstrand and Larry Hendricks.

Stay tuned.

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How I found myself while homeless in Alaska

Hello Fishies!

What follows is a posting from the Michigan Daily. There is some strong language.

By Jasper Kigar Michigan Daily

It started with the Discovery Channel. I've always had a yen to travel, but the show "The Deadliest Catch," may have had a greater impression on me than on the average viewer. The summer after my freshman year in Ann Arbor, I packed my bags and left for Alaska to seek adventure and fortune as a crabber. I never made it to the Bering Sea, but that summer changed my life.

My name is Jasper Kigar, but it hasn't always been. My parents named me Taylor. That's what I went by before my trip to Alaska. When I left I was hoping to change my personality from the cloistered and meek church boy to something more fierce and attractive. It's debatable whether I'm more attractive now, but after spending the summer vacation as a vagabond and a fisherman, my personality changed, and along with it, so did my name.

When I landed in Anchorage, I was scared. I quickly learned that the crabbing season was winter, not summer, and I had to find some other way to make the $20,000 cut a crabber might take home after a run. My best friend Josiah encouraged me, and after asking around in local bars about where to find fishing jobs (the next best thing to crabbing), we hitchhiked the 210 miles from Anchorage to Homer in three days, thanks in part to a Cajun man named Steve who preferred to drive with a buzz. He sipped Jim Beam while barreling down the curvy Alaskan highway at speeds I think averaged at least 105 miles per hour.

When we got into Homer we had no housing and it was too cold to camp so we enrolled in a homeless shelter called the Refuge Room. Josiah shared a bunk with an old sex-offender named Dan, who smelled of piss and semen. I slept above a 4-fingered chef named Larry, who had a propensity for falling asleep while talking.

After Josiah and I parted ways, I took a job on a salmon seining boat. When it went bankrupt, I took a job on the docks working at a cannery and lived for a few weeks with a hippie named Caressa in the back of her camper on the beach. After Caressa left to help out on a real crabbing voyage, I was left high and dry and homeless, again. I saw her out to sea, and later that evening, walked down the docks, hungry.

I heard laughter coming from an old cargo boat called the Beaver, which I would later learn was a sort of Vietnam Veteran's commune and a place the weak of stomach were advised to avoid. I walked in to see five burly men sitting around a table in the galley drinking cheap beer and smoking hand-rolled cigarettes. They stopped talking and stared.

"Who the fuck are you?"

"He looks like a fisherman,"

"Smells like a slime liner,"

"What's your name, boy?"

"Jasper," I replied.

"You play crib, Jasper?"

It was the first time I'd used the name Jasper. Until then I'd gone by Taylor. At the time, I didn't think about it very hard. I was nervous, and I wanted an alias.

We did play crib that night. If you ask him now, he'll say he won, but our memories from that night differ slightly. To make a long story short, we hit it off. Ken let me stay in the captain's quarters for as long as I was in Alaska. He slept in the engine room because he said he preferred to be "close to (his) diesels."

I don't know why I pulled the name Jasper out of my head to talk to those rowdy guys, but I think it was because I was scared. I thought it was possible they might try to kill me, so I gave them a fake, rugged-sounding name, partially to protect myself in case I had to make a run for it. For whatever reason, it stuck. On the ship, I started to fit in and feel at home. We were a ship of rejects and ruffians, of which I was the youngest. I hid my sheltered background along with the Arabic and Spanish I learned at the University. I learned to speak their slang, and I learned to drink - a lot. Beer break on the Beaver started at 3 p.m., and we usually went strong past midnight.

Today my name is Jasper. When I came home from Alaska and stepped back into the college life at the University I held onto my scruffy face and the name. My friends didn't know what to make of me and most didn't accept it, but every new person who I introduced myself to met me as Jasper, and my mother and grandparents took to the name. Jasper had a more exotic story to tell than Taylor. Plus, he could work all day and hold his liquor.

I returned to Alaska last summer. I lost all my money again and quit the business for good. The name, though, will stick with me. In fact, I'm making it permanent. My hearing for a formal name change is April 3 at 3 p.m. at the Washtenaw County Courthouse. But before that happens, I'd like to extend my deepest thanks to Captain Ken, without whom I never would have been scared enough to recreate myself, and Taylor, who had the courage to try the next best thing.

- Jasper Kigar is an LSA junior.

Stay tuned!

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Acronyms

Hello Fishies!

This listing of the most frequently used acronyms may be helpful to you:

BSAI – Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands

CDQ – Community Development Quota

CMP – Catch Monitoring Plan

CPC – Catcher Processor Crew

CPO – Catcher Processor Owner

CR – Crab Rationalization, Crab Rationalized

CVC – Catcher Vessel Crew

CVO – Catcher Vessel Owner

DCA – Data Collection Agent

DFL – Daily Fishing Logbook

EDR – Economic Data Report

ECC – Eligible Crab Community

ECCO – Eligible Crab Community Organization

FCVP – Federal Crab Vessel Permit

IFQ – Individual Fishing Quota

IPQ – Individual Processing Quota

LLP – License Limitation Program

OR – Official Crab Rationalization Record

PSMFC – Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission

PQS – Processor Quota Share

PTR – Product Transfer Report

QS – Quota Share

RCR – Registered Crab Receiver

ROFR – Right of First Refusal

SMAA – Seafood Marketing Association Assessment

SFCP – Stationary Floating Crab Processor

TAC – Total Allowable Catch

VAR – Vessel Activity Report

VMS – Vessel Monitoring System

Stay tuned!

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FIVE FISHERMEN RESCUED NEAR KODIAK

Hello Fishies!

Press release from the US Coast Guard:

KODIAK, Alaska - Five fishermen are safe after being rescued from their disabled vessel by the Coast Guard near Kodiak Island this afternoon in severe weather.

At 7:48 a.m., the 53-foot fishing vessel Risky Business notified Air Station Kodiak that their vessel was listing to port and they were heading to Kodiak. At about noon the Risky Business reported that they had a mechanical problem, were listing 30 degrees to port and were preparing to abandon ship.

A Coast Guard HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter was launched to assist the crew 69 miles east of Kodiak. The helicopter arrived as the vessel was forced on its port side by 20-foot seas and 50 mph winds. The crew was instructed to put on survival suits and enter the water. A basket was lowered and each crewmember was safely hoisted into the helicopter.

The captain and four crewmembers were returned to Kodiak where they were evaluated by emergency medical personnel and released.

The Kodiak based longliner was still partially afloat when the Coast Guard helicopter departed the scene.

The cause of the vessel's mechanical trouble is under investigation by Coast Guard Marine Safety Detachment Kodiak.

The Coast Guard reminds mariners to ensure they have all the necessary safety equipment onboard and that it is in good working condition. Mariners interested in a free fishing vessel safety exam should contact their local marine safety detachment.

KODIAK. Alaska - The crew of the 53-foot fishing vessel Risky Business prepares to abandon ship 69 miles east of Kodiak today after mecahnical problems and severe weather caused the ship to list to port and take on water. Official U.S. Coast Guard photo by Lt. Cmdr. Shawn Tripp.

KODIAK, Alaska - Crewmembers from the 53-foot fishing vessel Risky Business arrive at Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak after their vessel became disabled and began to sink in severe weather off Kodiak Island today. Official U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Kurt Fredrickson.

Stay tuned!

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Crab Harvesting Cooperatives Part 2

Hello Fishies!

Here is part 2 about crab cooperatives:

Upon receipt of a completed application for an annual crab harvesting cooperative IFQ permit that is subsequently approved, NMFS will issue one-year crab harvesting cooperative IFQ permits to the crab harvesting cooperative. The crab harvesting cooperative IFQ permits will list the crab IFQ amounts that are generated by the aggregate QS holdings of all members of the crab harvesting cooperative for each fishery, region, sector, and Class A/B IFQ categories. Issuance by NMFS of a crab harvesting cooperative IFQ permit is not a determination that the crab harvesting cooperative is formed or is operating in compliance with antitrust law.

The following restrictions govern fishing for IFQ crab under a crab harvesting cooperative IFQ permit:

A copy of a crab harvesting cooperative IFQ permit must be maintained on board any vessel that is being used to harvest crab under the permit.

The only person eligible to harvest crab under a crab harvesting cooperative IFQ permit is the crab IFQ hired master who is operating a vessel in which at least a 10 percent ownership share is held by a member of the crab harvesting cooperative to whom the IFQ permit is issued.

Each member of a crab harvesting cooperative is responsible for ensuring that members of the crab harvesting cooperative and crab IFQ hired masters of the crab harvesting cooperative comply with all regulations applicable to fishing for CR crab.

************

As you can see from the above, the formation of the cooperatives is both time consuming and labor intensive.

Here are the 2006/07 Crab Harvesting Cooperatives:

AC Crab Harvesting Cooperative, Seattle, WA

Advanced Harvesters Cooperative, Kodiak, AK

Alaska Crab Producers Cooperative, Seattle, WA

Alaska Fishermen’s Crab Cooperative, Mill Creek, WA

Alaska King Crab Harvester’s Cooperative, Anchorage, AK

Aleutian Gold Crab Cooperative, Chinook, WA

Aleutian Islands Cooperative, Seattle, WA

Coastal Villages Cooperative, Everett, WA

Crab Producers and Harvesters LLC, Seattle, WA

Fishing Associates Cooperative, Seattle, WA

KBO Crab Cooperative, Edmonds, WA

Krabbe Cooperative, Seattle, WA

Mariner Crab Harvesting Cooperative, Seattle, WA

Professional Crab Harvesters Cooperative, Seattle, WA

Rainier Cooperative, Edmonds, WA

Sea Boat Cooperative, Seattle, WA

The Bering Sea Crab Cooperative, Cascade Locks, OR

The Crab Cooperative, Kirkland, WA

Trident Affiliated Crab Harvesting Corp., Seattle, WA

Here is a link to one of the co-ops:

Bering Sea Crab Co-op | About

Stay tuned!

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Crab Harvesting Cooperatives Part 1

Greetings Fishies!

One of the ways that the crab fishermen are dealing with the processor stranglehold is by forming cooperatives. There are boats that began with a large amount of quota share, and some purchased, leased or sold shares. Having been restricted (unlawfully most feel) to where and when the crab can be sold, and time and vessel constraints, the industry needed some help to make this mess work. Thus the crab co-op was born.

In a co-op the members pool all of their crab quota poundage, and different boats harvest different levels and areas.

Here are some of the government regulations:

A Crab Harvesting Cooperative IFQ Permit is an annual permit that authorizes the cooperative to harvest a defined annual amount of crab during a crab fishing year (July 1 through June 30). The amount of crab authorized by the permit is derived from the aggregate IFQ amounts that would otherwise have been issued to the members of the cooperative. Each cooperative will be issued a separate IFQ permit for each type of QS held by its members.

Formation of crab harvesting cooperatives:

The following requirements apply to the formation of crab harvesting cooperatives:

A crab harvesting cooperative is limited to QS holders that hold any amount of CPO, CVO, CPC, or CVC QS, and that NMFS has determined are eligible to receive crab IFQ.

Each crab harvesting cooperative must include at least four unique QS holding entities. A unique QS holding entity is a QS holder or group of affiliated QS holders that are not affiliated with any other QS holders or QS holding entities in the crab harvesting cooperative.

Membership in a crab harvesting cooperative is voluntary. No person may be required to join a crab harvesting cooperative, and no crab harvesting cooperative may be required to accept a member who the crab harvesting cooperative chooses not to accept.

A QS holder may join one crab harvesting cooperative per CR fishery.

Upon joining a crab harvesting cooperative for a CR fishery, NMFS will convert all of a QS holder's QS holdings for that CR fishery to crab harvesting cooperative IFQ, except that after June 30, 2008, a CVC QS holder that joins a crab harvesting cooperative may retain his or her Class B IFQ from use by the crab harvesting cooperative.

A crab harvesting cooperative must meet the following legal and organizational requirements before it is eligible to apply for a crab harvesting cooperative IFQ permit:

(i) Each crab harvesting cooperative must be formed as a partnership, corporation, or other legal business entity that is registered under the laws of one of the 50 states or the District of Columbia.

(ii) Each crab harvesting cooperative must appoint an individual as designated representative to act on the crab harvesting cooperative's behalf and serve as contact point for NMFS for questions regarding the operation of the crab harvesting cooperative. The designated representative may be a member of the crab harvesting cooperative or some other individual authorized by the crab harvesting cooperative to act on its behalf.

A crab harvesting cooperative IFQ permit is an annual permit issued to a crab harvesting cooperative that establishes an annual catch limit of crab that is based on the collective QS holdings of the members of the crab harvesting cooperative that have been contributed by the members. A crab harvesting cooperative IFQ permit will list the IFQ amount, by fishery, held by the crab harvesting cooperative and identify the members of the crab harvesting cooperative. Each crab harvesting cooperative will be issued a separate IFQ permit for each type of QS held by a member (or members) of the crab harvesting cooperative.

A completed application for an annual crab harvesting cooperative IFQ permit must be submitted annually by each crab harvesting cooperative and received by NMFS no later than August 1, together with the signed annual application for crab IFQ/IPQ permit forms of all the members of the crab harvesting cooperative.

A completed application also must contain the following information:

Enter the crab harvesting cooperative's legal name; type of business entity under which the crab harvesting cooperative is organized; state in which the crab harvesting cooperative is legally registered as a business entity; printed name of the crab harvesting cooperative's designated representative; the permanent business address, telephone number, facsimile number, and e-mail address (if available) of the crab harvesting cooperative or its designated representative; and the signature of the crab harvesting cooperative's designated representative and date signed.

Full name and NMFS Person ID of each member of the crab harvesting cooperative.

For the application to be considered complete, the following documents must be attached to the application:

the completed and signed annual application for crab IFQ/IPQ permit for all members of the crab harvesting cooperative, a copy of the business license issued by the state in which the crab harvesting cooperative is registered as a business entity, a copy of the articles of incorporation or partnership agreement of the crab harvesting cooperative, and a copy of the crab harvesting cooperative agreement signed by the members of the crab harvesting cooperative (if different from the articles of incorporation or partnership agreement of the crab harvesting cooperative).

Stay tuned for part 2!

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Where do YOU fit in?

Greetings Fishies!

With the sneak previews out, past season currently running and the new season set to debut April 3, this topic was suggested to me:

Fan (person)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A fan or supporter is someone who has an intense, occasionally overwhelming liking of a sporting club, person, group of persons, company, product, work of art, idea, or trend. Fans of a particular thing constitute its fanbase or fandom. They may start a fan club, hold fan conventions, create fanzines, write fan mail, or engage in similar activities.

In a few cases, individual fans may become so obsessed with the objects of their infatuation that they become fanboys/fangirls. These fans engage in behaviors that are considered extreme or abnormal. This includes idolatry or other forms of worship, such as creating a personal shrine dedicated to the idol at one's home, and can sometimes extend to the point of the fans become stalkers.

Characteristics of a fan

There are certain common characteristics to be found in fans interested in different topics and that these characteristics influence the behaviors of those involved in fan behavior (Thorne&Bruner 2006).

Those common characteristics include (Thorne&Bruner 2006):

• internal involvement. Fans focus more of their time and resources intently on a specific area of interest than a non-fan would, and are not significantly concerned if non-fans (including family or friends) don't derive pleasure from the area of interest. Fans usually have a strong enough interest that small to major changes in their lifestyles are made to accommodate devotion to the focal object.
• desire for external involvement - are motivated to demonstrate their involvement with the area of interest through certain behaviors (attending conventions, posting online, etc.)
• wish to acquire - fans tend to express a strong desire to possess material objects related to the area of interest.
• desire for social interaction with other fans. This again may take many forms, from casual conversation, e-mail, chat rooms, and electronic mailing lists to regular face-to-face meetings such as fan club meetings and organized conventions.

There are several groups of fans that can be differentiated by the intensity level of their level of involvement or interest in the hobby (level of fanaticism) (Thorne&Bruner 2006).

The likelihood for a subject of interest to be elevated to the level of fandom appears to be dictated by its complexity. Complexity allows further involvement of fans for a longer period of time because of the time needed to work the subject of interest 'out.' It also contributes to a greater sense of belonging because of the mental effort invested in the subject.

Fan vs. fanatic

The difference between a fan and a fanatic is that while both have an overwhelming liking or interest in a given subject, behavior of a fanatic will be viewed as violating prevailing social norms, while that of a fan will not violate those norms (although is usually considered unusual). (Thorne&Bruner 2006)

Fixation may refer to the following:

• In human psychology, fixation refers to the state where an individual becomes obsessed with an attachment to another human, animal or inanimate object. A Freudian belief that, if during one of the psychosexual stages of development, a person did not receive appropriate gratification during a specific stage, or that a specific stage left a particularly strong impression, that person's personality would reflect that particular stage throughout their adult life.

Fanaticism is an emotion of being filled with excessive, uncritical zeal, particularly for an extreme religious or political cause, or with an obsessive enthusiasm for a pastime or hobby.

According to philosopher George Santayana, "Fanaticism consists in redoubling your effort when you have forgotten your aim"; according to Winston Churchill, "A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject".

The difference between a fan and a fanatic is that while both have an overwhelming liking or interest in a given subject, behaviour of a fanatic will be viewed as violating prevailing social norms, while that of a fan will not violate those norms (although is usually considered unusual).

A fanatic differs from a crank in that the latter term is typically associated with a position or opinion which is so far from the norm as to appear ludicrous and/or provably wrong, while the subject of the fanatic's obsession may well be "normal", with only the scale of involvement being abnormally disproportionate.

"Crank" is a pejorative term for a person who

1. holds some belief which the vast majority of his contemporaries would consider false,
2. clings to this belief in the face of all counterarguments or evidence presented to him.

The term implies that

1. a "cranky" belief is so wildly at variance with some commonly accepted truth as to be ludicrous,
2. arguing with the crank is useless, because he will invariably dismiss all evidence or arguments which contradict his cranky belief.

Common synonyms for "crank" include kook and crackpot. The crank differs from the fanatic in that the subject of the fanatic's obsession is not necessarily widely regarded as wrong, or a "fringe" belief.

Stay tuned!

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In Dutch, there’s no business like show business.

Hello Fishies!

In the latest issue of Pacific Fishing Magazine, there is an interesting article by Ann Touza. Ann is the former managing editor of the Dutch Harbor Fisherman. Here are some excerpts:

In Dutch, there’s no business like show business.

Deadliest Catch is one of the top shows in cable, says Doug Stanley, one of the producers and director of photography. “It’s a monster worldwide.”

The third season (or fourth if you count the three hour forerunner) begins this April and will kick off with highlights from the best episodes.

When asked how long the Discovery Channel plans on returning to film, Stanley says that is unknown. The number of viewers continues to increase, particularly the number of young male viewers.

“It is not about fishing, but about the people who fish,” Stanley said. “and they are very interesting and exceptional characters.”

The show has become so popular that “people are talking about them in small villages in the rainforests of Brazil,” Stanley said. He added that the show is also very popular with American soldiers in Iraq.

For viewers and fishermen alike the excitement continues, Stanley said. Every time a crab pot is pulled, “It’s kind of like pulling the handle on a slot machine; you never know what is going to come up.”

When asked how they decided which boats to film, Stanley says they are looking for “a variety and range of characters.”

“We want the viewers to care about the people,” adding that regulars like Sig Hansen get “horrendous amounts of fan mail.”

The Discovery Channel crew was expected to remain in the community for some months. “We are at the whim of the season and the vessels chosen.”

With the slow pace of this year’s opilio season, it may take some time to get what they need.

*********

The two hour highlight episode of Season 2 airs March 27.

Stay tuned!

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