October 12, 2013 — Star of the "Deadliest Catch', Captain Keith Colburn of the Wizard wasn’t out fishing for red king crab, as he would have liked. He was sitting in the capital. His mission at this meeting was to convince the Senate Commerce Committee to put an end to the shutdown.
The government shutdown has made it impossible for Keith and the rest of the fishing fleet to obtain the necessary permits to go out fishing for red king crab. The window for going out and catching crab is only four weeks long. The season officially starts on October 15, but with the shutdown, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), where they get their permits, is closed, and the workers are on furlough.
According to Captain Keith, the NOAA has enough money saved from last year that they could have paid the employees to stay on, but because they are on furlough, it is a different matter.
Read the full story and watch the video at Examiner.com