March 17, 2014 — Essentially, they are a subsidized entity of the Bering Sea crab fleet by the Discovery Channel, and for the show to continue they must have crab to fish, even if it’s not profitable. The reason these vessels have driven the lease rates for crab quota down to such ridiculous levels is because the money they make from being on television can afford them the luxury of undercutting their competition.
There have been some very positive aspects and outcomes from Bering Sea crab rationalization, but there are as many arguments supporting and opposing it as there are crab in the sea. For the sake of brevity, I will not go into them all. I'm concerned here with one that is increasingly becoming more of a problem for the active Bering Sea crab fleet: Discovery Channels hit reality television show "Deadliest Catch."
Quota leasing has become essential to the survival of vessels still active in the Bering Sea crab fisheries. As consolidation within the fleet is increasingly becoming a reality, quota has become available by previous owners of vessels physically selling out of the fishery, but retaining ownership of their quota. In other instances quota owners weren’t allocated enough of the resource to continue their vessel operations; thus, boats were sold and the quota they did earn was leased to vessels still involved in the fishery. More recently, CDQ groups have also been buying up available crab quota outside of the quota they are mandated and leasing it to active vessels in the fishery.
Quota is generally leased to vessels as a percentage of the gross income the vessel receives after delivery of the catch. Lease rates or the amount a vessel has to pay the owner for the rights to fish his/her quota are a bone of contention among the active fishing fleet and quota owners, and these problematic lease fees are only compounded by our "Deadliest Catch" fleet. No legislation has been enacted to control what percentage each party is allocated; yet, quota owners realized the high expenses associated with a Bering Sea crab operation warranted a fair share of the profits from the leased quota…until "Deadliest Catch" came to town.
Commercial fishing is a business and quota owners are naturally going to expect their quota to be fished as cheaply as possible. Generally, the vessel pays all expenses (food, fuel, bait, insurance, etc.) out of the percentage that the quota owners and vessel agreed upon prior to the harvesting of the resource. An increasing problem we see with the "Deadliest Catch" fleet is that they are willing to lease quota significantly cheaper than the industry standard. Different species of crab fetch differing lease rates depending on price of the product, quantity, etc. The fall Bristol Bay Red King Crab season of 2013 saw leases fetching owners of the quota 80 percent of the gross profits, leaving a measly 20 percent to the vessel catching the crab to cover expenses and crew shares in an extremely costly fishery. The numbers don't lie when the pie get sliced so drastically. It was rumored on one "Deadliest Catch" vessel that crew shares for Bristol Bay Red King Crab were $2,000 per man. What’s the reasoning for this, and who would undercut themselves and their industry so drastically? The answer is: a few in our one and only "Deadliest Catch" fleet.
Read the full opinion piece at the Alaska Dispatch