This year, crab captains are reporting
the notoriously elusive bairdi crab is even harder to find.
Several boats in the Bristol Bay crab fleet
have already ended their season in frustration.
The situation is dire enough that Fish and Game
may be considering an emergency closure effective immediately.
Johnny.
Hey, is Josh with you?
Hey, he is.
What's up, man?
Hey, did, did you guys hear this rumor about Fish
and Game might shut her down?
Are you kidding me?
I mean, the bairdi fishery is going so slow
right now that Fish and Game's talking about doing
an emergency closure.
Ouch.
That's bad, dude.
OK, yeah, no, it's just a rumor right now.
I mean, I haven't seen any print on it or nothing.
But I'm not going to leave until the guys in the water
here make it in.
You got time to stick around in case the fleet needs us?
You know, we'll just stick around and stand by Mandible.
OK, Mandible.
We're going to be in standby mode.
If we have to, we'll stick around.
All right.
Well, I'll keep you in the loop if I hear anything else.
If I got a signal, I'll help the fleet.
We will go back out there.
Josh and I will go back out.
We don't want to, but we will.
Setting a web right around through their gear.
I'm going to figure out what they got going on.
They're not real happy to see me here, I'm sure.
As soon as they cross one of my strings
and they feel that little tingle,
they'll scurry in and check one of those pots.
Harlan's going to do kind of a spider web of a set.
Hopefully there's some crab here.
They got Sig up the north and the west,
and I'll cover the south and east area.
We'll have this web spun in no time, man.
Yeah, buddy.
Let's go.
Woohoo!
So Harley's got gear in this area,
you know, so, I mean, we've definitely
got some ground coverage.
So we should try to put some in the middle in here
and see what's going on.
Right, you got to cover all the grounds.
Go, go, go!
All in.
Who knows if the crab's there.
It's not the way you want to do things,
but desperate times call for desperate measures.
We'll see if he's telling the truth or not.
Looks good.
Got the webs set.
Now we just got to wait.
OK, here we go.
Spin around, grab this first pot, and get this thing going.
Just set this one five hours ago.
So if you're getting one or two an hour, you're doing well.
All right, you guys ready for some bairdi?
Let's see what this checker pot does for us.
Come on, crab!
Come on, man.
Got crabs!
Oh, yeah.
Now we're starting to get into some meat.
Look at that one.
That's a damn good spot check right there.
They're nice crab too.
[PHONE RINGING]
Yeah, Southern Wind.
Dave, Sig, NW.
You got me?
Yeah.
I got a live one down here in the southern side of the web.
So it's-- everything's starting to percolate, man.
Now let's tighten it up.
Let's get in here and pack some pots around this stuff, man.
It's definitely looks like the place to be.
I love hearing it, man.
That's really good info, Steve.
I appreciate that.
I'm going to coming your way if that's cool.
I would definitely get down here.
OK, I'll keep you posted.
No worries.
Right on, Sig.
I'll keep in touch, man.
Thanks.
Well, everybody is trying their hardest, the best
they can right now.
But you've got to hurry it up.
Time is limited.
John, are you on this one?
NARRATOR: Well short of the fleet wide quota--
You got me, John?
Oh.
Hey, how are you doing, buddy?
NARRATOR: Sig calls in reinforcements to Harley's web.
You guys got me?
Hey, man.
This area that Steve's got, this could be our spot.
Got to try to milk it.
Yeah.
I know what you mean.
And, if-- I mean, if you still got the guys there,
right now we'll take all the help we can get.
More pots covering more ground equals more crab.
What do you think of that?
We don't really have a choice.
Yeah, man, we're up.
I guess if the fleet needs us, we'll do it.
Yeah, roger.
Beautiful thing.
Love it.
All right, bud.
Got it, brother.
I'm out.
I'll do whatever it takes, you know.
Yeah, we have to, you know, in order
to keep this fishery going.
All right, guys, [INAUDIBLE].
Ready, let's go.
You got this, brother.
You got this.
OK, throw it and get on, quick.
Throw it!
We're good to go.
Going back out.
Hopefully I can get out there pretty quick.
We're on the road now.
They're going to need help catching that crab.
We're going to get this [BLEEP]..
We have a chance.
Hear this?
We have a chance.
Yeah.
God always gives us what we need.
OK, let's see what lies at the center of this web.
We've got to get this caught right here.
NARRATOR: With the Dutch Harbor fleet's entire pot load packed
tight into a 32 square mile swath of ground,
captains make their last stand.
Oh, man.
Talk about all in.
All in.
Nick, they're stuffed.
NICK: Woo!
Yeah!
There's that crab.
Really?
Yeah!
All right, we got crab, boys.
Roger.
That's what we came here for.
Yeah.
Oh, yeah.
Welcome aboard.
That's a good one.
All right, hey.
That was nice.
Thank you, God.
God is good to us.
JOSH: God is good.
You know what? JOSH: God is great.
God loves us.
Hell yeah.
That's a good plot.
Oh, yeah, dude.
Harley's web had it going on after all.
That looks pretty good right there.
114.
Oh, yeah.
No way!
Give me a pew!
[CHANTING "PEW"]
That's exactly what we needed and we
just need to keep this going.
Maybe he's being straightforward after all.
All right.
We're going to be down here real quick.
We're working together.
We're going to finish this thing up.
Everybody's been helping everybody this season.
That's what I'm saying.
It's awesome.
That never happens in this industry.
Well, I tell you what, kid, I told you so.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Southern Wind.
Hey, dude, I got some happy boys on deck, so thank you.
Right on.
Told you that would work.
I don't care what anybody says about you.
In my book, you're all right.
Right on.
All right, talk with you later.
Here we go.
[BLEEP]
Helped him out.
You know, when a well conceived plan works, that's a--
that's a good moment.