The Average Salary for Crab Fishing
The average salary for a crab fisherman is $27,000, according to Simply Hired. However, a crab fisherman's actual pay depends on a variety of factors, including the type of crabs being caught, the size of a boat's crew and even the weather, which may create a work stoppage due to safety concerns. While some fisherman have year-long jobs, others have temporary contracts with no guarantee of success.
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West Coast Crab
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Crab fishing off the shores of Washington, Oregon and California involves long hours of competitive work. Even though the Dungeness crab season lasts for months, fishermen catch more than 80 percent of the crabs in the first two weeks, so crab fishermen make the majority of their money during the initial weeks of the season.
Alaskan Crab
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Crab fishing in Alaska involves dangerous but rewarding trips to the Bering Sea, where fishermen find snow crabs and king crabs, the most expensive crab. New deckhands on an Alaskan crabbing boat earn a share of the catch's market value, usually between 1.5 and 10 percent. This may amount to a $50,000 payday for the three-to-five day king crab season, but such results are not typical. Some boats only offer crew members a daily rate of $50 to $100, which is much less than a share.
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East Coast Crab
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Crab fishermen on the East Coast struggle for their salaries because of competition and changing crab populations. In the Gulf of Mexico, blue crab populations are high, and this abundance lowers both crab prices and a fisherman's salary. In the Chesapeake Bay, blue crabs are close to extinction because of overfishing, and so crab fishing salaries will vary greatly.
Expenses
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Even when fishermen catch large numbers of crab, expenses decrease the overall profit. For example, most fishermen in Alaska pay for their equipment and their food. In addition, crew members maintain the ship and perform other duties without payment for their services. On dangerous expeditions, crab fishermen risk losing their profits to medical bills.
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References
- NPR: Fishermen Make Mad Dash For Dungeness Crab; Richard Harris; January 5, 2009
- Business Week: Worst Jobs with the Best Pay; Kerry Miller; September 14, 2006
- Alaska Department of Labor: Seafood and Fishing Jobs in Alaska
- Pontchartrain Blue Crab: Crab is King; Cheramie Sonnier; December 15, 2006
- Simply Hired: Crab Fisherman Salaries
- DRUM: Blue Crab Farming on Maryland's Eastern Shore; Justin M Donnelly; 2009
- Photo Credit dungeness crab image by Mat Hayward from Fotolia.com
