In an episode of the 20th season of Deadliest Catch, Sig Hansen describes how these unique Norwegian crab traps have saved Northwestern and its crew both time and money.
The Viking Traps made by Norwegian company Proffteiner have been a success with Deadliest Catch skipper Sig Hansen, who has been trying them out on board Bering Sea crabber Northwestern. The episode is aired on the Discovery Channel this month.
The standard crab traps are roughly two metres square and a metre high, and weight around 300kg. These are lifted on board singly, and there’s no handling these traps by hand. But before starting fishing, it’s Sig Hansen’s first job to find where the crabs are, and that’s where the Viking Traps have scored.
‘By using the Norwegian traps, we can check an area quickly. These are lighter and easier to handle, so using these saves time an fuel when we’re searching,’ he explained in the episode when the Viking Traps are first seen on the screen in one of the world’s best-known and longest-running reality TV series during which Sig Hansen has been through numerous dramas.
Under his command, Northwestern has been exceptionally successful in locating crab, making it one of the highest-earning vessels in the fleet. It’s also a strong vote of confidence for Proffteiner and its innovative crab trap concept.
‘This is great. Episode six is already available on YouTube,’ said Morten Falch at Proffteiner. ‘It’s been seen in Ireland, and we immediately got inquiries from fishermen there.’
Proffteiner was set up in 2022 by crab fisherman Jim Sæternes. He had been fishing for crabs for many years, and in recent years struggled with damage to his shoulders due to the repetitve strain of handling heavy crab pots. To remedy this, he worked on developing a trap that could be lifted using a boom, and these larger traps showed their value by fishing five to seven times more than the conventional types on the market.
The company has been testing traps across a variety of fisheries – in addition to the experience in Alaska and Norway. There has been recent interest from Ireland, and prior to that fishermen in the UK, the Netherlands, Italy and Iceland have shown strong interest on Proffteiner’s ideas.
‘We’re taking traps with us to Nor-Fishing, and will be at stand F-524 with our Viking and Midgard traps. We’re open to interest from fishermen, whether they are looking to buy traps or lease them,’ Morten Falch said.
