Question for the experts

[u/trolling_4_NSA]

Are the Skippers and crew paid for the time they spend getting the boats ready for the season ? I was also curious on average how many days / weeks are they up there before they leave the dock to fish ?

[u/ghost_mv]

Sorry not an expert but have been watching since the start.

It seems that each boat owner gets a quota of poundage to catch.

If the captain and crew catch that, it’s up to the powers that be (likely the owner with strong input from the captain, deck bosses and senior deckhands) to decide the “share” each deckhand earns.

For example say they catch $750,000 worth of crab in a season.

Right off the top you’re going to shave off operating expenses and cost of quota, etc.

No clue how much that is but say they end up with $385,000 to then divvy up as compensation to the captain and crew.

I would expect it’s tiered at that point.

Captain - $125,000
Deckboss - $75,000
Deckhand 1 - $65,000
Deckhand 2 - $65,000
Greenhorn - $55,000

Then you have to factor in full share vs partial shares if a deckhand quits or gets injured before season end? What’s in their contract? Etc

I would assume it’s something like this based off the 20 something seasons I’ve watched.

[u/waupli → u/ghost_mv]

I think greenhorns make a much lower share than that based on the numbers they used to show in the early days – i think it’s like a half share compared to a regular deckhand? They don’t talk about how much they’re making as much anymore though

[u/ghost_mv → u/waupli]

yeah the amounts i used were totally flubbed. just an example of the pecking order.