Alaska Crab Fishermen Endorses Russian Crab
11/19/2007
This summer our firm tried a case against the Wizard, one of the vessels shown on Disney’s “Deadliest Catch” television series.
The case arose from a career ending shoulder injury suffered by a crew member when he slipped and fell down the engine room stairs. We prevailed in court and established that the Wizard was negligent and responsible for the fisherman's damages.
During the case we relied extensively on material from the “Deadliest Catch” and the Wizard's own website. In preparation for the case we watched every episode of the “Deadliest Catch.”
One of the skippers who caught our interest was Captain Sig Hansen. Thus, we read with interest the recent news regarding Captain Sig's involvement with Global Fishing and his decision to endorse crab imported from Russia. Global Fishing, the largest U.S. importer of Russian king crab, reportedly contacted three of the Alaskan skippers portrayed on the "Deadliest Catch" about promoting Russian crab. Two of the skippers rejected the offer, the third, Sig Hansen, agreed to the offer. Hansen, in a telephone interview from his ship, said that he hoped his endorsement would work to help all crab products by invigorating crab meat sales and driving up prices. The crab is currently being sold at some Wal-Mart stores. However, several of the people who were also approached by Global Fishing have strong opinions as to why they rejected Global's offer. Those that chose not lend their endorsment listed reasons that included Global's conservation violations and the fact that endorsing Russian crab would work to counteract efforts to encourge the consumption of American seafood. While strange and counter-intuitive on the surface, Hansen’s decision to promote Russian crab may suggest a willingness to put financial gain over loyalty to the fleet. This same kind of theme frequently plays out when profits are more important to vessel owners than safety.
