01x08 - Good Fishing

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January ...
The colossal Bering Sea.

Just under 2.5 million square kilometers
violent and completely unpredictable ocean.

Here you will find a lucrative,
but deadly catch: crabs.

Heavy machinery, waves
and rough weather are a recipe for danger.

Man overboard!

The season, which is only 39 hours
old, has already claimed victims.

Unbelievable!

Six have already died.

A sad season.

Despite the tragedies
fishing continues.

They've been fishing for two days, but
but the next 24 hours will be crucial.

Some get rich.

Two dollars each!

Others desperate.

The hunt continues
for the riches of Alaskan crabs.

DEADLY CATCH

Four days ago, 171 boats
out of Dutch Harbor in Alaska.

- in search of riches
at the bottom of the Bering Sea.

Their prey is the snow crab,
which is very hard to catch.

This year, the quota is set at 8.8 million
kilograms by the Alaska Department of Fisheries.

When the fleet hits that ceiling,
the season is over.


is the boat Northwestern.

At 3 a.m. they get ready
to salvage the second team of traps.

Captain Sig Hansen took advantage of
the boat's speed and went far to the north

- close to the Russian border
in more distant waters.

Our boat is faster
than most.

A lot has fallen pretty well
in place so far.

I'm afraid it's going to go wrong, but
I'm enjoying it while it lasts.

In the first two days, the decision
to head north has paid off.

At three dollars per crab


Not bad for the first one.
We hope the rest live up to it.

Then we fill the foredeck
in no time.

Yes, yes, yes!
It's getting better and better.



Check it out.
They're huge!

- How many were there?
- 625!

This is the second time,
we've caught up.

Compared to the first time
this is better.

Yesterday, Captain Sig went
to the place with the good catch

- and laid out the rest of the shrimps
just above the crabs.

You've got a serious problem,
but a positive problem...

They have a shortage of space.

The second of the three


And the aft tank
is filled with bait.

- It's almost full.
- Yes, it's slow.

They need to find a solution,
before they can bring in more crabs.


is Lady Alaska.

Unlike Northwestern, Pete Liske's boat is
Pete Liske's boat is far from the crabs.

They have been fishing for 40 hours straight.

We still have four hours of work.

Exhaustion is setting in
both physically and mentally.

I'm going to guess
it's almost morning.

- Is it true?
- It's ten minutes past two.

Ten minutes past two?
Yes, ma'am.

The only time we count on,
is the end of the season.

We can wake up at four in the morning
or two in the afternoon.

We can have breakfast
at eight in the evening.

Time means nothing out here.
Only work.

About 50... Not good.
That's not acceptable.


Not so good.

Now we're collecting the sh*t.
Then we'll have to find somewhere else.

Captain Pete walks 50 km east to salvage the
to salvage the cutters with cod bait.

Yesterday he switched bait
from frozen salmon to fresh cod.

He hopes,
it will turn his luck around.


is Maverick.

Captain Rick
participated in a rescue operation.

- that delayed them by half a day
compared to the rest of the fleet.

To catch up, they tried near a
a fish factory on St. Paul Island.

It looks like the crew and he
are now getting a bonus in the form of full traps.

With the factory so close by
they can empty the full tanks.

- and reach for more.

We book unloading time
tomorrow morning, so we're clearing up now.

Then we head out for one last attempt,
before the season winds down.

With little time until the next trip
the crew takes a break.

They are getting tired,
but they're doing a great job.

We just need to get the last ones up,
so they can take a nap.

It's going pretty well.

It's looking good.
Some traps had 700 crabs.

Most had around 400.
That's really good.


is Billikin.

They are in the process of salvaging
second team of traps.

But the catch is no match
with the big ship.

We have caught around 200 crabs
in the shakers in the last 18 hours.

I'm disappointed with the fishing here.

The crabs walk in large shoals.

They walk or run...

They certainly run away from me.

We need to move space.

Two more and we're out of here.

Jim takes the helm while Jeff goes out
out to boost morale on deck.

And hopefully turn your luck around.

Change of shift.
I'm going on deck.

I have to hurry.
Those three out there are waiting for me.

Under the captain's supervision
they move half of the rusks.

It's your last chance.
The season is coming to an end.

- so this is the last time,
they'll be able to get the shrooms out.

The rowers are laid out,
as the day dawns on the Bering Sea.

The crew gets a short break.

Jeff goes back in the wheelhouse
to bad news.

The fleet has so far caught
almost 3.2 million kilograms.

With a total quota
of just over 9 million kilos

- it ends long before people hoped.

They're about to blow it off.

It's not good.




is a lot of crabs.


but it's not good enough.

Someone must be getting a thousand per ruse.

Near the Russian border
Northwestern is still getting good catches.

Sig Hansen's strategy
is still paying off.

The biomass here is small,
but concentrated.

We have 25 traps left. So far, so good.
so far it's better than expected.

The first two teams we were first
first out. That's an advantage.

Now here are a few other boats,
that I know know the area...

- so they take their share.

A few kilometers away
is the 42 meter long Retriever.

Captain Sig wants
bigger tanks for his catch

- while Captain Jim wishes for more
crabs to fill the tanks.

Jim works hard
to turn his luck around.

He will now lay the nets at a depth of


Except, that is, for
Captain Sig Hansen.

Northwestern is right over there.

In 9 minutes
we'll be 300 meters apart.

The green ring is Northwestern.
He won't get any crabs there!

Unless he has
some kind of miracle bait.

Things are going much better than I expected.
But I'm also always a pessimist.

Jim at Retriever is a great guy.
He'll probably catch something similar.

In that case, he can
come in with a pretty big haul.

- Zero, zero, zero, zero, zero, zero, zero...
- Five zeros.

We're not catching anything here.
Northwestern probably won't catch anything either.

He's probably going back now.

But Captain Sig isn't going anywhere.

He hauls in big catches
and thinks ahead.

If this works out for us,
that's awesome. Then I'll be satisfied.

We have plenty of crabs.
We'll need the aft tank.

Isn't that a bit hasty to say?

We're still getting great catches.

Sounds good...
Glad you're thinking positive, Edgar.

After 48 hours, the crew is
are allowed to sit down and eat.

- Chicken! They'll have to live with that.
- Smokes and coffee don't.

Now the fatigue is starting to set in.

I feel fine,
but my body says otherwise.

You're sore. I was tired until the sun
until the sun came up. Now I'm a little fresher.

Norman and Edgar, you forgot
your mom's birthday yesterday.

Congratulations, Mom.
I'm sorry I forgot.

It's often easier
without a slotted spoon, Adam.

- Do you call your mom?
- Yes, I'm calling my mom.

- What a meal!
- It's homemade.

With a hot meal and plenty of
of crabs, spirits are high.

When they get the whole fleet's result,
spirits rise another notch.

The last 24 hours
is two million kilograms.

The average is 222 per nozzle.

We are on 3�.

We're at twice the average.
We're on a roll!

They have used the third tank
for live cod as bait.

We still have 500 live fish.

We provided plenty of fish.

We fishermen are greedy.

More bait means
hopefully more crabs.

Fortunately for Northwestern
it looks like they're in for a good season.

Third day in the afternoon.


Retriever salvages its traps.

Now it looks like Jim's strategy of
of going deep seems to be paying off.


That's pretty good.

Usually the clean crabs are found
crabs are usually found here at great depths.

They avoid the females
and the smaller, unclean males.

That's one that moves.

When the big, clean crabs arrive,
the crew's spirits rise.

But traps with many crabs
can be dangerous.

- What's happened?
- It doesn't look good.

This is one tough fisherman!

He gets hurt,
but he just keeps going.

That's what you get for pissing him off.
You get your a*s kicked.

As long as the rest also have 400-500.

- Here are 2-dollar king crabs.
- Snow crabs.

No, 2-dollar snow crabs.
Two dollars each.

That's 2.7...!

Didn't you do math in school?

Fes gets a band-aid and keeps going.

It's not the first time,
fishing has come at a cost.

Fes was on Arctic Wind. We lowered the
the booms. We were both on deck.

The captain lowered and raised them,
but they were stuck.

John climbed up the mast to
to free a cable that was in the way.

The captain lowered the boom,
trapping John's finger.

A giant crab grabbed
my finger and wouldn't let go.

You have to be careful
with those king crabs!

It's just a small piece.

It's not that cold. Two degrees
I guess. A good working temperature.

It's good when the sun comes up.
It cheers you up.

The biological clock kicks in
and provides more stamina.

Some of them, like Fes,
like freezing temperatures.

You don't want to piss off Fes.

I'm in a good mood today.

When I'm not in a good mood,
you just have to let me work.

- Awesome, John!
- We like that, Fes!


First meal of the day.

During the first meal in 50 hours
Jim reveals the bad news.

Retriever doesn't get the crabs,
but the rest of the fleet is setting records.

It's Monday morning.
With any luck, we'll have enough for Wednesday.

- Someone must be getting a good catch.
- Those are high numbers.

They get their first real meal
in days and they're kicking a*s.

Work, work, work!

We've chosen the location.
There's not much to do.

We can't leave.
We just have to throw out the traps.

That's what I'm talking about!
Now we're getting somewhere.

That's what I'm talking about!
This is fishing!

Give me a number ... 450.

It sounded better than 200.

They've finally found the crabs.

If it continues,
they can fulfill the quota.

But suddenly all power goes out.
The ship is floating in the Bering Sea.

What's going on?
Is it in there?

There's smoke!

- Do you have a flashlight?
- I have power here...

We lost all power.

There is smoke coming out of the two switches.
It smells like it too.

A pungent odor. It's like
a fire in a house, but on a ship

- you're pretty much at their mercy.

There is no fire brigade here.
We are firefighters on board.

Fire on board quite serious.

Fire on a ship is very dangerous.

- Do we turn off the main switch?
- Turn that one off.

Then it happens.

Such a short circuit sank the
the 55 meter long fishing boat Galaxy.

Mayday!
Here's the Galaxy!

The crew at Retriever
don't want to suffer the same fate.

A lovely afternoon at Retriever,
but looks can be deceiving.

A loss of power from a short circuit
in the main cable is a serious risk.

It's smoke!

An imminent disaster.

In 2002, Galaxy had a power problem,
causing a serious fire.

Very quickly the boat was on fire.

After a distress call, Captain
Dave Shoemaker and the 23 men

- out on deck
hoping for help soon.

What happened in those two hours,
I never dreamed...

And I have 2287E7↩ years of experience
as a captain on the Bering Sea.

I never dreamed it could happen.


went into a life raft.

It drifted away with the power.

Captain Shoemaker made one
swim over to a fishing boat.

- because he was afraid,
the life raft was drifting away.

The desperate swim
in the icy waters of the Bering Sea

- was recorded on video.

Exhausted and freezing cold
the man was hauled on board.

Shortly afterwards, another fisherman
sailed out after the life raft.

I saw the crane on the horizon
slowly swinging out...

- to lift the fleet on board.
That's when I knew they were saved.

Captain Shoemaker and two of the crew
of the crew stood in the bow.

The flames licked up around them
and melted their shoes.

Suddenly, a Black Hawk helicopter
a Black Hawk helicopter flew overhead.

It started circling above us,
and I just stood there thinking:

"Oh my God! Thank you!"

As the Coast Guard
helicopter approached.

- the boat was suddenly hit
by multiple, large explosions.

Fearing an expl*si*n would tear the
the fuselage, the pilot reacted quickly.

A rescuer jumped into the water and signaled
signaled the men to jump in.

When I jumped in, it was,
it was like my ribs were cracked.

I didn't realize
they were so badly broken.

The captain and the two crew members
made it to safety in the helicopter.

It was wonderful
to see the helicopter coming

- and the paramedic who jumped in
time and time again to help us

- by putting us in a basket
and hoisting us on board.

Three crew members
died in the fire.

And the Galaxy sank in the Bering Sea.

This fate is on the minds of the people,
as they try to prevent a fire.

The game does not work.

Calm down! Don't wave your
the flashlight. Don't touch anything.

Jim thinks,
he's fixed the short.

The only way they'll find out
by plugging in the power.

Is he wrong?
they can get another short circuit...

- and cause a major fire.

We're in the process of getting it fixed.
I took the fire extinguisher...

- so we can put out
a fire in a hurry.

It looks like the power is working.
They return to fishing.

You have to take it as it comes.

- You fix it and keep fishing.
- Let's go again!



It's evening on the third day.

With front and rear tanks full
Maverick sets course for the factory.

On the way, they salvage three traps.

Crabs!
It looks great!

Very nice crabs we get here.

In the last 24 hours
the shakers have yielded over 300 crabs.

Rick sets them out again in the hope that
they'll be full when they return.

If the fishing continues,
there's more money to be made.

But if they are too late,
the crabs just need to be released.

We are under time pressure now.

We prefer to unload
at five o'clock tomorrow morning.

It will probably last until 17:00.
Then it's time to go out again.

Partner Phil Harris says,
he needs to go in and unload now.

Pick up the last ones
and get in as soon as possible.

You can make it tonight and start
unloading. You'll be ready at 08:00.

Then you'll be back
this time tomorrow.

If they start immediately,
I'll be back around 7:00 tomorrow.

Call them right away and tell them,
you're on your way. That's what I would do.

It's Rick on Maverick.

Is there a possibility
we can unload around midnight?

Do you work that late or can you
or can you only start at five o'clock?

The sooner the better.

I know you're doing what you can.
I just wanted to let you know.

It's a race against the clock.

If they arrive before midnight,
they unload the catch.

Otherwise, they have to wait until 05:00.

Then they won't be back until
tomorrow afternoon.

That could be the end of crab season
may be over for the year.


Captain Pete Liske and the Lady Alaska.

Their catch is so far
far below average.

They have put
all their 90 traps out again.

The first team has to be salvaged and they get to
see if the new bait works.

Over 400 pieces.

The crabs
seem to prefer cod.

One, two, three...!

What does it look like?


That would be the thing.

I think I've found a good place.

Let's see,
if it's something we can use.

They just need to be sorted.

Around 300� ...

- How many?
- 350.

One more time.



That's it!

Captain Pete's luck is not in the bait
the bait, but a higher power.

It's a miracle. We brought
our traps in this afternoon.

Right after that, my friend Josh called me,
called and said: "Pete, there's crabs!"

When he said there were crabs,
I felt a great sense of relief.

I felt it was the hand of God.

We are both Christians
and are together in prayer.

Glory be to the Lord.
Miracles do happen.


the Maverick approaches St. Paul Island.

It is a 12-hour boat ride
from the fishing grounds to the factory.

And it takes hours,
before they can unload.

Along the way, salt water is pumped into
tanks to keep the catch alive.

Down there I see money.
A lot of money!

Looks like we're going to have
a hot shower in St. Paul.

St. Paul, Alaska
has only one profession.

Most of the 500 inhabitants
work at the Trident fish factory.

We're over the moon here at Maverick.

We're a little tired and sore,
but we're overjoyed.

It's amazing.

We're on top of it.
This is how it's supposed to be.

I'll have to wear shoes and see,
and see if it can be done.

- Do they take both tanks?
- There will be another one at 10:00.

Do they only arrive at 10:00 am?

They only work 18-hour shifts.

They only work
from six in the morning to midnight.

We got in just at midnight.

Looks like we're the first.

They start unloading at around 5 am.

- and the factory
does not start until 06:00.

In St. Paul, Maverick is first in line.

But another boat
is due to unload at 10:00 and has an appetizer.

By then, Maverick has been unloading for five hours.
That's only enough for one tank.

If they only have one tank, that's bad.
Then we could miss out on 20,000 kg.

This will be the last trip. They'll probably close
for the season in 3-5 days.

This means,
we can reach another 20,000 kg.

If they unload it now,
it makes a big difference for us.

At 04.45 the harbor workers go on board
and start unloading.

They hang a large basket on a crane
and lower it onto the deck.

The basket hangs on a weight,
that is reset with a basket.

It seems they don't take both
thoughts, according to what the chairman says.

He said,
they only empty one tank.

Rick is in with the boss to see
to see if they can't take them both.

The solution is fast,
but not fast enough.

They haven't received
such large volumes since 1999.

- It has taken everyone by surprise.
- The planes haven't arrived?

Yes, there are people on the way,
but there's no one else here right now.

Like fishing
factory work is seasonal.

Most employees don't live in Alaska,
but fly in from all over the world.

They work around the clock
until all the catch is landed.

Average salary:


The edible meat is in the legs.
The bodies become fertilizer.

The bones are boiled, flash frozen
and shipped all over the world.

This delicacy will be served
in restaurants in just five days.

The time is 09:00.
The center tank is almost empty.

When they are done, the foreman gives the
signal to unload the next tank.

Maverick is lucky. The second
boat for 10:00 am is late.

They also take the second tank.

That's great.
The crab god is smiling down on us!

Hopefully they'll be ready by noon,
and then we'll head out...

- and refills again.

We'll have room for 20,000 kg more.

Hopefully we can fish until Friday,
so we can stock up.

Around 80,000 kg in total. That would be
be good. It would really take off.

With 4 dollars per kilo.

- Maverick can get a total haul
worth over 350,000 dollars.

The best season ever.

I'm pretty happy right now.
Nice crabs.

For Captain Rick and the crew.

- the danger of fishing the Bering Sea
in January has provided ample bonuses.


is Northwestern.

After three days, things are looking very bright
for Captain Sig Hansen and his crew.

If it was yours,
you'd be smiling too.

They have filled
front tank of 35,000 kg.

- and quickly fills the
the center and rear tanks.

Captain Sig
has planned a third trip.

So far so good, but
but the last ruses will determine how well.

The season is coming to an end soon

- so there's no time to look,
if the crabs aren't here.

This is crucial for the season.

It's calculated when
it's over, so today is the day.

The first nozzle is a disappointment.
It has fewer than 100.

- What a piece of sh*t.
- That's it?

From 600 crabs per trap to 100.
That's a huge drop.

The captain
blames the competition.

They ran us over.
We found a nice little place.

It was wide open.

It went really well,
and then they just showed up last night.

Yes, you get a little angry.

He probably didn't see us.
Everyone does it.

But you get angry,
when suddenly there's nothing.

I'm prepared for the worst.


crabs are unloaded from Maverick.

Thank you so much for that. Always a pleasure
doing business with you.

Captain Rick Quashnick and his crew
participated in a rescue operation.

- have sailed hundreds of kilometers,
worked 72 hours straight.

- and recovered 140 traps.

And all for one reason
for one reason: the payment.

They have landed over 44,000 kg.
At $4 per kilo...

- the total payment is
is 169,507.39 dollars.

Every man on Maverick
has earned 10,000 dollars.

Captain Rick gets 22,000 dollars.

Not too bad
for three days of work.

Thank you ...
See you in 4-5 days.

On his way out, he hears a message
from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.




Total crab catch in the Bering Sea
is 4.3 million kilograms.

I guess they won't blow it off,
before noon tomorrow?

If they give us 48 hours,
it'll be Friday at noon.

Now the crew and I have earned a little.

It takes the pressure off.

There is still a lot of pressure,
but it was a good catch.

Not quite 45,000 kg, but 44,000.

We're running away again. If we make it to
Friday, we can almost fill up.

We just need to clean up,
and then we're outta here.

Now I'm going to give them some smoke.

The rear tank
must have had a large void.

- What?
- They said 44,000 kg in total.

Who said that?
There were 40,000 kg.

No more?

- It was maybe 44,000 kg...
- Yes, 44,000 kg.

Yes, something like that.

Great!

Let's get going.

They leave St. Paul with money in their pockets
in their pockets and hope for more to come.

They head southwest in the hope of
more traps filled with crabs.

But nothing can be taken
for granted on the Bering Sea.

The weather can change quickly, luck
can turn, and danger is always lurking.

- in the continuing hunt
for the deadly catch.

In the next section:
Crab season blows off.

In 35 hours, it's all over.

That's it, it's over.

- The crew won't stop.
- We don't give up.

Now it's time for the continuing
crab hunt in "Deadly Catch".