Fishing is the profession which always has the danger of the job. Russell Newberry, a deckhand on the fishing vessel Time Bandit, said that complacency is deadly when crab fishing in the Bering Sea. He added that two things are a must one to stay on the boat, and second to keep the water on the outside of the boat, always. He advised that too much complacency often kills.
Newberry and Travis Lofland, a deckhand on the Wizard, who also is featured on the Discovery Channel show, were in Juneau for several days and met with fans and signed autographs at the Alaskan Brewing Co. According to Lofland crab fishing is not a glamorous job. He also told that crab fishing is probably one of the most miserable existences one can have in the middle of ‘opie’ season.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics consistently ranks fishing as one of the most deadly jobs in the country. Lofland said experience does diminish the fear factor, to some degree. He said that when the big weather comes, it’s not scary in the aspect of being scared to walk out on deck and do the job, but I like to refer to it as ‘pucker-factor high. Newberry added that it is very dangerous to be a crab fisherman in the Bering Sea, it can’t make people feel what it’s really like.
