[radio beeps]
what do you think, guys? Looking kind of empty, isn't it?
[sig] kind of eerie.
[nick] pretty weird.
[sig] you know, I've been coming up here for 42 years.
And I've never seen anything like this.
[ship horn blasting]
[woman on radio] tonight, on... [indistinct]
85 crew members have tested positive for coronavirus.
[sig] you know, people are scared.
[woman on radio] ...Will be quarantined and confined to quarters.
[sig] fisheries are on the brink,
[woman on radio] 900 crew members have been exposed to the virus--
[sig] and half the fleet is tied up in seattle.
But we still have to catch all our crab.
If we fail, the fishery dies.
We're gonna need everyone.
Guys who give it everything,
who know how to channel their anger.
Those who know about sacrifice.
Guys who got knocked down, and stood back up.
You even work with guys that you don't like.
What we need...
What we need are legends.
It's a tough year, and now our fisheries are on the line.
[man 1] wave, wave, wave. Watch out.
[sig] we fight for survival.
[man 2] whoa. What the...
[sig] for our future.
The crab fishery is the american dream.
And I'm not letting that slip away.
What the [bleep] are you doing?
[man 3] power off, now!
Ugh!
But we got to be shoulder to shoulder
or watch it all burn.
You're the [bleep]!
[man 4] go, go, go, go!
Look out!
[indistinct]
[sig] what a time to be alive.
[narrator] October.
[wild bill] you want to go in the middle?
Go up.
[narrator] dutch harbor, alaska.
[wild bill] every year it kind of looks the same when you come up.
But this year's absolutely different.
We have guys that aren't working, we have crews that can't get to their boats.
It's times like these when we remember we're mortal.
[reporter 1 on tv] the fishing industry is struggling to stay afloat
because of the coronavirus.
[reporter 2 on tv] ...Making an already challenging fishery more difficult,
scientists are now depending on fishing vessels
to judge the health of the crab stocks.
[narrator] locked down by covid-19,
alaska fish and game was unable to conduct
their annual pre-season crab survey.
We don't know how much crab is actually on the grounds.
Is there a lot? Is there a little? Where are they?
[narrator] now the fleet itself must prove
the strength of the king and bairdi populations
by catching the entire five million-pound quota.
[scott jr.] the information that's gathered from the fishing fleet
could determine whether we even have a fishery next year.
[narrator] if they fail, federal law mandates a two- year closure of the fishery
to restore the crab stocks.
Rebuild years is what they call them.
It's one thing to just be shut down and lose your income.
But if the russian fishery continues to thrive,
we're toast.
[narrator] it's up to those still standing, to defend the fishery.
[keith] those who do go out there have got to make sure we do get our crab caught.
Not only our crab, but other people's crab, too.
[narrator] or die trying.
You know, I got to tell you, this has been one crazy year so far.
And it just seems to be getting worse for us.
[narrator] with king crab season only days away...
[sig] but guys are gun-shy.
It's hard to get people to participate right now, for many reasons.
[narrator] northwestern captain sig hansen is on a recruiting mission.
With this much crab to catch,
you need someone that's not afraid to stick his neck out.
And if anybody fits that picture, it's john hillstrand.
Oh, yeah!
[john on radio] let me know if we got it.
Holy moly.
[narrator] a highliner for four decades,
yeah, baby, yeah, we loaded this bitch! [whoops]
[narrator] john hasn't spent a full season at the helm in nearly four years.
[john on radio] rock 'n' roll, baby.
[sig] so, hopefully he's willing to help.
I know he's around here somewhere.
[laughs] and he's easy to spot. You can see the car right there.
That was an easy one. [laughing]
buddy!
[john laughing]
[sig laughing]
-how you doing, man? -Oh, my god.
[sig] can't miss you.
[laughs] yeah.
Well, I want to talk to you about something. I want to do it in person
-'cause it's pretty serious. -Oh.
[john] just got to put this air filter on.
-[sig] you got a minute to have a quick chat? -[john] yeah.
It's important.
Let's go for a quick drive, okay?
-[john] we can talk in the car. -[sig] all right.
I want to make sure this is running.
You got hillstrand driving. What could go wrong?
[revs engine]
-be nice. -I'll be nice.
[tires screeching]
[laughing]
it's been so long since I've driven in a car that's got that sound.
-[john] yeah, that's pretty bad-ass. -[sig] yeah.
[john] she's ready to go.
Whoa! [bleep]
[sig] whoa, whoa, whoa!
[tires screeching]
-yeah! How do you like that? -[laughing]
-[sig laughs] oh, my god. -This is a nice car, huh?
-She gets around. I like that. -Yeah.
-[laughing] -[sig] oh, this thing is fun.
-But I can't have a conversation in this thing. -I know.
-Pull over. -I'll pull over, buddy.
I got to talk to you, man. This is crazy.
-[sig laughs] -yeah, man, I just had to make sure she's running good.
-[sig] she's running good. -[john] sorry about that.
-Please shut her down. Whew! -I've shut her down.
What do you want to talk about?
I mean, here's the problem. This year has been crazy for everybody.
And I don't know if there's gonna be enough guys
to actually go out there and catch the quota
that we need to get...
And if it is a closure,
well then, it's mandatory two, three years.
We need you back, john. Plain and simple. The fleet does need you back.
I got a dog, I got all these grandbabies, you know?
I don't even know if I can get a crew.
-So I don't know. -You want to retire, I get it.
If you want to retire, you've got to have your quota leased to somebody.
-You can't do that if there's no fishery. -Yeah.
[john groans]
I would really appreciate if you could step up and do this, man.
I just have to talk to heather.
[john] I'll have to let you know.
[monte] you see that water right there?
It's leaking out of that seam.
The whole pipe's coming apart.
All right, you know what?
Why don't you shut her down and take it out.
[monte] roger.
[man] hey, keith, I found a skylight.
Oh, my god.
[keith] whoa.
When you can watch the sunset through one of the rooms in the boat...
It's not a maybe, this has to get fixed.
[narrator] just three days before departure...
[keith] the old gal's pretty much rusting from the inside out.
[narrator] captain keith colburn prepares his wwii-era vessel
to catch the fleet's single largest quota.
[keith] I got holes in my boat,
I got holes in pipes, I've got holes in everything.
But you know what? We're gonna get it done.
And we're gonna get out of here.
And we're gonna go fish.
[man] turn around.
And even though we don't have a survey, we have to catch the crab
because if we don't catch it, they may close it forever.
[on radio] this is alaska fish radio. I'm laine welch.
The uncertainties from no surveys has the fleet on edge.
[narrator] without the annual report detailing the location of the crab,
every skipper is fishing blind.
[scott jr.] I was fortunate enough to get a little bit of information.
This is probably the closest thing to a survey
that we have for this king crab season.
[narrator] everyone that is, except for captain scott campbell jr.
[scott jr.] you know, I own the lady alaska now,
but I'm still also on the seabrooke.
This is from the seabrooke.
They were out on the cod grounds and they ran into some king crab.
And this is the freshest information that the entire fleet has, right here.
I've got the biggest boat in the fleet,
but I need a big amount of quota to make that big payment.
[keith] there's hoses on the launch, there.
You got to get those in the engine room now.
Double-time it, all right?
And I'm hoping that I can trade keith for some quota.
[keith] we've got all the bait on.
Double up the bow line for me, all right, guys?
[man on radio] roger.
The boat's looking pretty rough, man.
[scott jr.] he's leaving out to sea with a hole in his house?
[scott jr. Sighs] how's it going, keith?
-[keith] all right. How you been? -[scott jr.] good.
I think I got a little something that might be interesting to you.
I mean, seabrooke was out fishing.
This is the only information where the crab are.
-Is that right? -I'll give you the current information that I have,
give you a good starting point for king crab,
you give me some quota.
So you're asking me to give you, basically, give you money,
and trust you that that is--
in not having a survey, here's the information that could save you weeks
of time of searching. You know how it is.
Catching my crab is not an issue. It may take some time, but you know what--
the reality is, this is the only information.
-What's on that disk... -This is the hotspot.
...Is not valuable enough to me.
This thing's rusting away.
I don't think you can catch--
whoa, whoa, whoa, hey, hey.
-This boat's caught more crab in the bering sea-- -maybe back in the day.
Not a problem. But if you change your mind,
here's the information.
What an [bleep]!
[bleep] joke. Guy can't catch his crab anyway
and he still won't give it to me.
I think he's making a huge mistake.
[scott jr.] I just can't believe it.
[jake] the gear's almost rigged, the boat's ready,
and I've got a lot of pressure on me right now
due to the fact that I'm trying to buy crab quota.
But I need the funds.
[narrator] captain jake anderson targets expansion,
but to secure the additional percentage of the fleet-wide catch,
jake needs $100,000, cash in hand.
Being able to purchase crab, that's a legacy being born right there.
My kids will have the money.
Their kids will have the money because we will own the product.
So I need to make a lot of extra money this season.
But right now, I'm waiting for a partner of mine.
I know sig's going around to get fuel here,
and this is, right here, the calm before the storm...
Because it's just too calm.
[sig] okay, let's go.
[man] all right, sig.
[sig] I've got a little fuel on board right now,
but I want to go get another 10,000 gallons.
I want to be right and tight before we rock and roll.
[narrator] northwestern captain sig hansen,
and daughter mandy top off their tanks before the king crab opener.
[sig] I've got to go around. East out of hog island...
-And then... -[jake speaking on radio]
is that you, jake?
Yeah, well...
There's fishermen out here and I wasn't paying attention, and I just got it...
I got the nylon in the wheel now.
-And I think there's buoy bags... -[chuckling] oh, my god!
What is he doing?
I don't really know what to do, and I'm drifting at about .8 to the south,
[sig] I mean, do you need a tow?
Yeah.
Oh, my god. You know what?
Do not move. I'll be right there.
Okay. Roger.
[sig] not good.
[mandy] how'd he manage to do that?
All right, guys. Sig will be coming around.
That's jake right there.
You know, there's guys that have been fishing cod out here with pots,
so if he did get a line in his wheel, you stall your engine.
Next thing you know, you're stuck.
[jake] okay, here he comes, here he comes.
[narrator] jake may be the one sitting idle...
Jake, I don't see nothing on your starboard side. I got nothing on your stern.
But let me come around and I'll check out the other side.
[jake] okay. Roger.
[narrator] but he's not the sitting duck.
[john speaking on radio]
[hoots in triumph] let the games begin!
-Is that john? -[mandy] yes, he got the time bandit!
[sig] what the hell?
It's an ambush. It's a trap. Ha-ha!
Ready for battle.
-[ship horn blowing] -[sig] what the hell?
[jake speaking and hoots in triumph]
[narrator] just outside dutch harbor...
Is that john?
[jake] here we go, guys!
[narrator] a bering sea pirate hoists his jolly roger.
Ready for battle.
Hey, sig, have a nice day.
Fire away! Fire away!
[all exclaiming]
-what are they doing? -Paintball!
[john] yeah, baby!
[all clamoring]
give them everything you've got!
[man] you ready?
All right, here we go.
[sig] oh, my god!
[mandy] hey!
[sig] oh, my god!
[people shouting]
[sig] holy [bleep]!
[cheering and whooping]
[laughing]
welcome back, hillstrand style!
He's tearing up my boat.
[sig on radio]
[laughing] okay!
Okay.
Stop! Stop! Stop!
[jake] ceasefire, everybody. Ceasefire.
Aw!
[all cheering]
[john on radio]
[bleep]
[john] sorry, man, got a little to into it there.
But you wanted me back, sig. You're the one that wanted me to come back.
He's flipping us off.
I love you, man!
[john laughs]
pretty proud of anderson right now.
[man] he set the bait.
[john] thanks for helping anderson out there, sig.
You really came to the rescue there.
Did a good job there.
[sig speaking]
[sig] I mean it. Oh, my god!
We just washed the boat.
Oh, my god...
Dude, it's bad.
[bleep]
[laughing]
thanks for the paint job.
[john] love you guys. See you at the docks.
That was awesome.
[horn blowing]
[indistinct shouting]
[man] yeah.
That's good.
[man 2] all right, take it forward.
[man 3] okay.
Swing it in! Go ahead.
[josh] weird times, man.
Crazy to see how many boats are registered
and how many are fishing, like, we'll see.
It's like 50% are staying in.
I'm going to go out and catch us about $1.5 million's worth of crab here.
-1.3. -$1.3 million of crab.
Makes me nervous.
[narrator] with half the fleet tied up...
[man] you got it!
[josh] a lot of people aren't making it, you know.
Scared to come out. We lost tj and maria.
[narrator] those planning to fish scramble to nail down their crews.
[josh] jeff isn't a crab fisherman.
He's never even seen a crab pot.
But he is a fisherman.
[narrator] to fill out their deck,
cornelia marie captains josh harris and casey mcmanus
press rod and reel expert jeff silva into service.
Casey called me saying he needed my help.
Jumped on a plane.
Here I am.
Jeff's their business partner in hawaii.
[man] dang, that guy's good.
Jeff silva. Fish master.
[narrator] but on the bering sea, he's a fish out of water.
He's not gonna have much time to get acclimated before we're fishing.
[jeff] it's pretty nerve-wracking.
It's just a total... It's just a total, total different game.
It's pretty overwhelming.
[man] we got it.
[narrator] while the cornelia marie's new greenhorn gets a crash course in crabbing...
My brother, he got covid, but without andy, I'm just one short.
[narrator] captain johnathan hillstrand eyes a plan to fill out his crew.
This year is really important, you know.
So I want to really make sure I got every advantage I can.
[john] yeah, baby!
[narrator] instead of reprising his role
as co-captain of the time bandit...
50s and 60s.
[narrator] john's brother, andy, contracted covid-19.
While he's on the road to recovery, john still needs a co-pilot.
[john] I don't think they could pass this up.
I don't think they're gonna say no.
[grunting]
there's no graceful way to get on of a boat this big.
Hey, guys.
-Hey, boys. -What's up, johnny?
How are you?
I'm gonna ask you a question.
But don't say nothing for ten seconds.
I need him to go fishing with me for king crab.
-Think about it. -Next year?
This year.
I need somebody over there with me.
I thought I was gonna have andy.
And I just want to make sure there's nothing phil didn't teach you.
I want to teach you everything I know.
Just think about it. And I could give you some quota, if that sweetens the pot.
Uh-huh?
-What type of quota are we talking about here, john? -Won't be a little.
-Okay. -Yeah.
It's kind of a heavy ask before we're supposed to be checking out here.
Just give us a little bit to talk about it.
See if can we get some stuff figured out.
All right.
Cool.
-We'll let you know, buddy. -Okay.
Down the road a little ways.
What do you think about all that?
I mean, pulling this off on your own will be a real tough one.
I have my reservations.
It'll be difficult, it'll be a little bit slower.
We have a lot more quota to catch. That part of it's not gonna be easy.
We're trying to build this business still. We're trying to make it better and better.
But my old man owed him a lot.
After my dad passed,
I spent two-and-a-half, three years over there,
rebuilding our life in order to get this boat.
You know, he was there for me.
But it's taken a long time to get this boat up to par.
It's nerve-wracking to leave it.
Just a lot of what-ifs right now.
[landon] I found this last night when I was going through my room.
It's the last bit of possessions that mahlon left on here.
[narrator] on the summer bay...
[wild bill] mahlon was a hell of a deckhand
and we still have to go out and really say goodbye.
We're not even through this yet.
[narrator] while the fleet prepares for a new season,
captain wild bill wichrowski and his crew prepare to send off a fallen shipmate.
Gotta get them on the boat. We'll make some money.
[narrator] last summer, 38-year-old bering sea veteran mahlon reyes
passed away unexpectedly.
[wild bill] he had a heart attack. Left a wife and four kids behind.
He was just one of those guys that was always happy.
It's just sad.
A lot of emotion in crabbing, sometimes.
You think you're all through with the pain and it doesn't take a lot to bring it back.
Mahlon's wife took the time and effort to come from montana all the way to alaska
to deliver mahlon's remains to the dock.
Because of covid, she can't even come on board.
We can't give her a hug. Can't hold her, can't do anything,
but she did not want to just put his remains in a box and put him in the mail.
So, we're going to do a little ceremony.
[heather] I made it.
Whew.
Hey, heather.
Thanks for coming.
He's here and he's going to love it so much.
But I love you, all of you guys.
And, bill, thanks for keeping him safe for me for all these years.
This is really hard and we can't give you a hug.
I know, I'm just like... Nick's one of my best friends.
Last night, I was going through the room.
Me and mahlon's shared.
[sobbing] I found that sweatshirt.
We wanted you to have it.
Thank you so much.
I love you guys so much and thank you.
-[landon] thanks for coming. -Yes. [blows kiss]
bye, guys.
[wild bill] I consider myself a pretty tough individual,
but I don't deal with death very well.
Seen a lot.
The hard part is the ones left behind.
[sobbing]
we've got mahlon on board again.
All right, we're gonna get going.
[landon] "and god shall wipe away all tears from their eyes,
and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying,
neither shall there be any more pain."
[will bill] thank you for coming.
Yeah, you bet. Anytime, bill.
[scott jr.] mahlon worked for me for about five years.
He loved the sea, loved to be out, fishing.
Sad day.
[wild bill] we're here to honor a friend.
A shipmate.
A father of four who loved his family.
He'll be with the boat forever in our hearts, forever.
[wild bill speaking]
rest in peace, mahlon.
[wild bill] loss is hard.
And it's not the bering sea.
It's the bering sea lifestyle.
When it comes to fishing, there's always dangers and there's always risk.
We're here to do a dangerous job.
And this year's way different.
If we fail at this, so does the fishery.
If we're going to survive,
we're gonna have to fight for it.
[man 1] that was the real party, after you left.
-[man 2] yeah... -[man 1] that was a real party...
[man 2] it was, wasn't it?
[conversing indistinctly]
[sig] guys!
We represent so much of the quota right here.
If we can work together, we can cut down our time
and we can find the crab that much faster.
There's the bottom line.
I mean, if we grid it out, if we just pick so many square miles each
and run a grid and then be honest.
If you're not honest, it ain't going to work.
If you're honest...
-[sig] I'll be honest! -Which is a really difficult word for you.
[laughs]
in norwegian, that's like, four syllables.
[all laughing]
oh, you're a funny guy.
You're asking one, two, three, four.
You're asking a number of boats to try and work together as a team?
-Yeah, I am. -[keith] we have a hard enough time working together.
-Right? -With two.
-Yeah. -Let alone two, four, six...
[keith] sig, it's a big ask.
[sig] I'm not asking anybody to fish for me.
That's where I struggle, sig, is because--
this isn't about... It's not about pride!
I'm not [bleep] asking you to catch my crab.
[keith] you're asking one, two, three, four...
You're asking a number of boats to try and work together as a team.
[sig] I'm not asking anybody to fish for me.
That's where I struggle, sig, is because--
this isn't about... It's not about pride!
I'm not [bleep] asking you to catch my crab.
I don't wanna catch your crab.
I'm just saying we should share information.
We. We share information.
We have to. The old-school mentality that we all grew up on.
It says find your spot. Keep it. Don't tell nobody.
We don't have that option anymore.
If we keep that mentality, and we don't evolve, then we're all [bleep].
You know, I came back to help you guys.
So let's work together.
I'm in this. Anybody in this with me? Raise your [bleep] hand.
Raise them up.
We'll do it.
-Jake? -You in, anderson?
You in?
We got scott?
Hey, keith, you in? Raise your [bleep] hand if you're in.
Oh!
Good. Okay.
Well, if we're gonna do this on the radio, we're going to need some codes.
-Roadrunner. -Coyote.
Coyote.
-Skeeter? -[jake] no!
-You are skeeter! -I am not!
-Ironman! -[laughing]
no, you are skeeter!
-We got sasquatch on the end. -[man 1] sasquatch!
[sig] what was jr.'s nickname then?
-[man 1] legend! -Legend!
[man 2] legend!
How the [bleep] did he get a good name?
[all laughing]
he's the only one with a good name!
Can't pick your name.
[men shouting] skeeter!
[all laughing]
[man 1] we want the green ones!
[indistinct shouting]
[man 2 on radio] all right, everybody ready on the bow...
[man 3] we got everybody on deck here now? Go.
[indistinct shouting]
all right, you guys. Showtime. Let's drop some... [indistinct]
get the cords secured, and the drop lines
and head on out.
[landon] been on quarantine for two weeks now.
Let's go catch this crab.
[wild bill] it's really a big deal for us to get out and get this stuff caught,
but we're going to try to help each other out,
which is really unnatural for most crabbers.
These guys aren't real forthcoming with information.
[nick] good!
[nick coughs]
[landon speaking]
[nick speaking]
we've had some rocky starts in the past, but I think we're ready to go this time.
And I need it.
I need to get out here on time and catch this crab and be done with it.
Hey, bill, we got a problem.
What do you mean?
Nick just walked off deck and says he's not feeling good.
-He walked off deck? -Yeah.
What the hell's going on?
I don't know. I'm gonna go check on him right now.
All right. Let me know.
Roger.
[groaning] oh, my god.
Nick was fine this morning.
I don't know how you get sick this quick.
What's going on?
Yeah. Sweat pouring off of him. His nose is running. His eyes...
He doesn't look like normal nick.
-Is he in his room? -Yeah.
Close the door right now. We need to get everybody stabilized.
-I'm going to shut these mains down. -Okay. I'll be back.
We're probably gonna need to get medical.
[landon] roger that.
[wild bill on radio] wash your hands.
Put your mask up.
[keith] let's get the lines off the boat. Let's go fish, all right?
[indistinct shouting]
[narrator] after weeks of uncertainty...
Time to go! Come on, boys, make it fast!
Throw the line!
[narrator] the depleted fleet makes last-minute preparations...
Going to the king crab grounds!
[indistinct shouting]
[narrator] for what could be their final king season.
[sig] I'm hoping the guys want to work together.
I mean, I don't always like it. I'd rather be alone.
But this year's different.
Hello, captain scooby. Reporting for duty.
Look, I got josh harris over here.
Look, I got josh harris!
[indistinct conversation]
to hell or high water.
-[man] yeah! -[ship horn blasting]
[casey] you don't look so hot. Dude, you okay?
[bleep]
-are you serious? -Yeah.
I've never thrown up on the ocean before.
All right, guys, good luck out there.
We're all in this together.
Smooth sailing.
[sig] it's not every day you see
all these guys together like this.
But if that's the case,
I'd like to take the sombrero.
What about you, john? What are you thinking?
I'm gonna cover gooseneck area, guys.
And I'll go from amak west and cover the southern district.
I wanna take shark fin.
I'm going where we were last year. West of 164.
Jr., can you take the other side of 164?
Yeah. Okay.
Well, then I'll just 'll shoot up to 164 line to the east there.
That sounds good.
[scott jr.] not really where I wanted to go.
Got some information that showed some king crab.
If I don't like what I see.
I'm gonna divert off and go my own direction.
[casey] if we all cover a bunch of different ground,
we do talk to each other
and nobody tries to hold out, we will be successful.
[keith] good luck, guys!
Stay safe out there, guys.
Good luck to all of you.
All right. Here we go.
Let me see what the hell you got going on here.
You're running about 101 right now.
So that's a fever.
I gotta get... I'm gonna call the clinic
and see if I can get somebody down here.
Hey, guys, I'm not really sure what's going on with him,
so let's take the precautions.
Landon, go ahead and raise that single flag, then put both flags back up.
[landon] right.
And you guys stay up forward. Stay away.
[landon] roger.
[bleep]
that's a sight I didn't want to see there.
Oh, my god. Financially, this could ruin me.
If I can't fish.
And if he is sick,
I don't know what the hell's gonna happen.
[narrator] far from the safety of dutch harbor...
-Attaboy! -Go, brother.
[casey] we're just a few minutes from the set time,
so we're gonna throw
these pots over the side here at noon.
[narrator] captains and crews aim over 1,200 pots
at their 2.6 million pound king crab quota.
[casey] this year they didn't have a survey.
So we're essentially doing a pot survey fleet-wide.
[crew shouting instructions]
-[man 1] three, two, one. -[beeps]
[man 2 screaming] oh, yeah!
Right now, we're right next to what I call the shark fin,
we're gonna work our way from here over to the east.
[narrator] the plan?
Cut up the 100,000 square mile king crab grounds,
setting over a variety of depths
and bathymetric features
to pinpoint the biomass
and then share the information.
[john] what we're gonna do today,
is we're gonna go over, straight across the gooseneck.
[crew shouting and cheering]
[shouting]
we might find a little honey hole. A little hillstrand hole.
Einstein said once...
[laughs]
-when they're there, they're there. -[both laugh]
when they're not, they are not there.
But he's talking about his socks.
That's a quote. Einstein quote. Seriously.
That's for good luck.
Let's do it.
-[cheering] -[sig] don't throw up.
Good.
Look, we decided go to to sombrero.
We're gonna start sharing information "hopefully."
all right, good luck.
-Be safe. -All right.
Be safe.
[man] yeah, buddy!
Let's go. Whoo!
As my old man used to say, now there's nothing left but the crying.
Do you think we're going to do the burn barrel sig hansen survey?
No!
Now he's still sitting there, licking his chops.
He's gonna soak up any information he can from radio crab like a sponge.
[crew shouting]
[keith] sig has all kinds of habits.
Habit number one, use the radio
and every bit of intel you can get.
Number two, never give any information back.
Number three, if you get on good fishing, turn the radio off.
[man] we're rolling, 2020.
We start hauling 60s and 70s down here at amak.
I don't know if I wanna be that truthful
on the family channel. [laughs]
no. If this does well down here,
I have to report it. I don't want to, but I will.
[scott jr.] when we were fishing cod.
I was seeing signs of king crab all through my cod here.
And I'd really like to go there.
But, you know, I'm gonna stick to my guns.
I'm gonna set some gear on the 164 line.
[shouting instructions]
[scott jr.] we made a pact. We gotta stick to the pact.
But if I don't like what I see, I'm running.
We're coming back.
[man] the last string!
It's almost gone.
We have a lot riding on this
and josh isn't here. He's over on the time bandit.
So it's just, I don't have a sounding board anymore,
but I've got jeff on here at the last minute to help us out.
[jeff] king crab 2020, baby.
Started at the bottom.
Or the top. Bait boy.
[narrator] with captain casey's opening set nearly done...
[casey] all right. Good job today.
Why don't you go and get something going for dinner?
[narrator] ...Greenhorn jeff silva
gets the order to stop cooking crab food
and start cooking crew food.
[jeff speaking]
how do you think that galley is going to look here in a minute?
Well, jeff's down there cooking.
[bleep]
[casey] it's one thing to have way bigger seas versus in hawaii...
But also being on a bigger boat,
it completely changes the roll.
[man] roll over. Last line.
All right. Good job, guys. Thank you.
That's gonna be it for this evening.
So come on inside and eat some dinner, guys.
[man] whoo!
[jeff] ow! [thuds]
[man] you okay?
Hey, case, jeff just fell down the stairs. He hit his head.
-What stairs? -The bottom level stairs.
He's laying on the ground.
[casey] not good.
It's on auto.
Yo! Dude, what's happening?
You okay?
Where at?
I fell from the very top.
Move your hands for a second. I wanna feel this.
Oh, yeah, you got a good goose egg there.
What did you hit it on?
I fell off... I just...
I feel I'm gonna throw up.
-[casey] are ya? -[jeff] yeah.
Here, you wanna get up?
[retching]
[coughing]
[narrator] on the cornelia marie...
[retching and coughing]
foot got hung up in his sweat pants.
He hit his head. There's a grab bar
coming down the stairs right here.
You know, it's about an inch and a half aluminum,
but it's pretty damn hard and he came down
and he hit his head on the wall, too.
That's teak. That's pretty hard.
[narrator] . ..A violent fall down ten stairs
ends in a blow to the head,
leaving greenhorn jeff silva
showing signs of a severe concussion.
[casey] he's so dizzy right now, he can't even stand up
so we'll give him a minute to get his feet under him
and, uh, keep checking on him throughout the night...
Reevaluate in the morning.
Hopefully, we don't have to make a trip in,
but if we have to, we will.
Okay, guys, we got about ten minutes,
then we're gonna pull.
[cheering]
[bleep] come at you! Come on!
[narrator] their pots soaking for 24 hours...
[keith] I told the guys that I was going to the 164 line.
That's where the crab had been the last two years.
[narrator] ...Six boats survey the bottom
at six strategic locations across the grounds...
I just pray to the gods that we blow this tank up.
Whoo! Whoo!
[narrator] ...Hunting for enough crab
to improve the health of the fishery
and keep their own boats in the black.
I haven't seen a king crab for a whole year.
I'm excited to see one.
Hopefully, at least one of us can get off to a good start,
and then we can start to dial in.
[jake] I want every pot to do well.
I don't want to haul blanks.
The fleet does not want me to haul blanks.
I don't want anybody in the fleet to haul blanks.
[johnathan] we got to outmaneuver the others. Swing wide or
we'll be in trouble.
We just gotta get through it together.
Okay, guys.
King crab season 2020 of fisheries. Doing it.
Whoo!
[johnathan] don't miss on the first one. That's bad luck.
Here we go.
Let's go!
First pot!
This is it, man. This is it.
Oh, yeah. Keep on turning what he did last.
Let's do it.
We'd love to see some numbers here.
Come on, guys. Give me a dance, give me the dance, give me a dance.
[men exclaiming joyfully]
yeah!
[sig] if the fleet can get off to a good start as a whole,
then that really sets the precedence for our next year.
So this really is important
that we find something quickly.
If we get 20, I'm gonna be just crapping my pants.
-First one. -First one...
[man] bingo. Good job.
[man] coming! It's coming in hot, very hot!
There's the moment of truth, big guy.
Moment of truth.
-Moment of truth. -Drum roll, please.
[drum roll]
[man] all right. Here we go.
Money.
Here it comes.
All right. Come on, baby.
Be there for us, be there for us.
[man] this is it.
No way. Big bucks, big buck.
Oh!
Oh, no.
Ay-yi-yi.
[man] all right. Here we go. First pot!
Let's see what we got.
[bleep]
ooh, I don't see anything.
[man] let's go!
What is this?
[keith] well, there's a morale damper right there.
Ug!
Yikes!
All right, guys!
Nothing.
[scott jr.] that's not good.
You gotta be kidding me.
[man speaking]
man, where's our crab at?
-Number is one zero. -Ten!
Ten crab in the tank.
We're just getting warmed up over here.
-[man] yeah, we're just getting warmed up. -Just getting warmed up.
Pretty bleak.
Nine crab.
Niner.
Had three in the first one right there.
Three crab. That's it.
Got one.
-One. -I had two.
That was it, the whole pot? Are you sure?
Yeah.
Don't panic. Do not panic.
[sighs wearily]
all right, manny. First one's up.
Is there life?
Come on.
[laughing and cheering]
whoo!
Oh-ho-ho!
All big.
Hell, I told you.
-[man 1] that's some crab! -[man 2] whoo!
We said we wanted to see life.
There's life.
[man] oh, yeah!
Got some crab.
Give me an estimate.
Two four, and they're good crab.
They're big.
We'll see if there's any kind of a correlation
between crab and depth.
This is 45 fathoms.
So if we see any kind of sign or a consistency
that changes in depth,
then that's gonna teach us something.
Let's see what happened.
♪ come on, come on come on, come on ♪
I'm excited.
[men cheering]
oh, yeah, it's crab.
[sig laughing]
[men cheering]
[man] are those big?
Yeah, money!
-[mandy] nice. -Oh, my god. Oh, my god.
[man] big, big, big, big.
Right.
[laughing] oh, my god.
[man] coming up.
Maybe five in that one.
What was that? Three crab?
[man 1] two! We have two keepers.
[man 2] no good.
I've got too much gear
committed in this depth right here.
One crab. One!
[keith] this looks bad for us.
[man] ouch!
Ouch!
Womp, womp, womp.
What's in that bag, dude?
Five and six crab on a 24-hour cycle.
Wanna stay out here until christmas?
[both laughing]
[josh] ai-yi-yi.
It's like abysmal. We needed it home.
[scott jr. Whistling]
anybody on air? Anybody on the family channel?
-Thank you. It's wizard here. -Wizard on board.
-You guys there? -Roger. Roger. Roger.
Anybody pick me up?
Yeah. Roadrunner. [imitating beeping]
how's fishing?
Not doing good over here, my friend.
Slow so far.
Our numbers have been similar to yours.
But I'm having no fun again.
I don't... I don't have much.
I figured there wasn't gonna be much down here anyway.
Where's the grand master designer of this?
[man speaking]
oh, yeah.
[crew cheering]
♪ da, da, da, da da, da, da, da ♪
come on, come on, come on.
[jake] sig, do you got me?
Copy, copy, copy?
Sig, you on there? It's jake.
That'll wake you up in the morning.
Yeah, buddy!
Wow!
It's getting better on this end.
Oh, my goodness.
Hey, sig. Wizard here.
Wizard. Wizard.
[man] hey, anybody on here? Hello? Hello?
[grunts] there's no boats here.
- [man] what do you got going on? - [sig grunts]
we just got to get our gear situated.
[keith] six grand survey alliance is unraveling fast.
[laughing]
well, well, that's a shocker.
Oh, man. That sucks.
That sucks.
Sig?
[man] roadrunner. Roadrunner's here.
Yeah. I'm here.
[man] rider!
[men cheering]
oh, yeah!
[men cheering]
hey, sig. Wizard here.
Wizard. Wizard.
Hey, anybody on here? Hello? Hello?
[grunts] there's no boats here.
[keith] six grand survey alliance is unraveling fast.
[laughing]
and well, well, that's a shocker.
[sig] there's a trench that runs through here. You see it?
-[mandy] yeah. -They're in this gully.
They're not on the ridge or on the top of a ridge.
-They're on the bottom. -[indistinct shouting on radio]
[jonathan] sig, roadrunner. Roadrunner's here.
We better all start working together
if we're going to make this work.
We have a season next year.
[speaking indistinctly]
-[crew cheering] -[man] [bleep]
oh, my god!
Whoo!
[sig] can you hear me?
Yeah, roger, roger, got you.
I just got on here. I got the tail end of that.
You had me a little worried with your silence, sig.
I know you.
[laughing]
[keith speaking]
[man whooping]
yeah!
Well, we've seen good numbers.
And they're big crab.
-Yeah, we got how many? -[man] 53.
-How many? -[man] five three.
53.
Sounds like sig's getting a few there.
All right, good. Whoo!
[man] roger that.
[keith] all right. Well, it sounds good, man. Good job there.
Hopefully, the rest of that string pays off like that.
So where are you at right now?
56, 40, 62, 30.
56, 40, 62, 30, right now.
[man] copied.
And they're large. [continues indistinctly]
do you know what I'm sayin'?
Wow.
How deep are you right there?
[sig speaking indistinctly] I didn't expect this.
Honest to god, john, this is what I know.
How deep are you there?
[sig speaking indistinctly] there's a good layer,
top to bottom. But right now, how would I check it?
How deep are you there, sig?
But this is-- yeah. Anyway, all right, guys.
We'll have it all in here.
-[mandy] why'd you do that? -[sig] all right.
What is wrong with you?
[laughing] I couldn't help it.
The reality is, I'm more worried about next year
than I am right now.
I understand that,
but realistically, if I was sitting in that chair,
you were taking a snoozer, and I wake you up,
"oh, by the way, I was on the family channel,
I give them my position."
-I would have had a fit. -Yeah.
I would have had a fit.
Well, they've got the information.
Maybe not all the information.
You know, I didn't get specific about the gullies.
I got 'em in the ballpark but I'm not gonna run the bases for 'em.
You know, I don't trust sig,
but I honestly think that, um,
he may have been straight up with what he was saying there.
Flag.
Is there enough crab for ten boats to work on it? No way.
[narrator] sig strikes first,
but it'll take more than one honey hole to catch
what's left of the 2.6-million-pound king crab quota.
Make sure we just walk our way that way,
and not to boat too far towards him.
Just capture all our gear right on that one spot.
It's the most important season of our lives.
We're gonna have to find something.
Still on the hook.
[wild bill] god, I've never felt so worried
about somebody not feeling good.
I mean, nick's my guy. Nick's my heartbeat on deck.
If he's positive for 19, it's like...
-[nick coughing] -[wild bill] ...You gotta wonder
what happens to him, what happens to us.
[nick coughing]
right now, I'm freaking.
[narrator] 48 hours after his deck boss came down with covid-like symptoms...
So hopefully, this guy gets down here,
and we can administer test.
[narrator] ...Captain wild bill faces the reality
that he and his entire crew may have been exposed to the coronavirus.
Nick's one of the toughest people I've ever met.
I've seen him break bones, sprain ligaments.
So seeing him like this right now
really has me worried.
[nick coughing]
[man] onboard. Let's go see what's going on.
[wild bill] hey, nick.
Medic's here, man. Think you could get
maybe get up and get in that chair?
[nick speaking]
[medic] how are you doing, nick?
[nick] great.
[medic] good. So what seems to be going on?
[nick speaking]
-[medic] you've been sweating at all? -[nick speaking]
[medic speaking]
[thermometer beeps]
[medic] yeah. It looks like 101.2.
All right. We're gonna go ahead and get your covid test done.
[nick] ah, I hate this.
[medic] I know. I'm just gonna have you breathe in
and then breathe out and get the swab done really quick.
Go ahead and remove your mask for me.
It's not just a temp?
[medic] and put your head all the way up.
All right.
[nick coughing]
[nick] god. God, that sucks.
[wild bill] so, doc, when do we get results?
[medic] we can get results back in 24 hours.
We'll put you back in your bunk and get you set,
and as soon as the results come back,
then we'll let you know where we go from there, okay?
[nick speaking]
[man speaking]
65!
They're all big?
[man] yeah!
They're in this gully.
But I don't know how far to the north or south I can go.
It's a lot of ground to cover.
But I don't got enough pots right now
to play around with all that.
All right, mandy, you take over here.
I'm gonna grab a cup of coffee.
[mandy] yep.
[man laughs]
we're on good numbers now, but we gotta stay proactive.
We have to know where they're going.
We're getting a good idea of where the crab are, east to west.
But I do want to see how far north the crab extends.
[narrator] with the best sign on the sombrero
in the cooler underwater trenches...
Who's around here?
Maybe I can fill in the blanks a little bit,
get some more intel.
[narrator] ...Mandy spies an opportunity
to extract extra information...
From a vessel in need.
[man grunts] not good.
Oh, man.
Oh, god.
[man] where's all the crab at?
Oh, man.
[mandy speaking]
yeah, roger. What's going on?
Let's go to the two-meter.
[jake over radio] okay, roger.
[mandy] hey, jake. You got me here?
[jake] yeah, I got you there.
What's going down?
You heard what he said on the channel, right?
[jake speaking]
[men shouting indistinctly]
[mandy] I think there's a little bit more to it that you should know.
We're seeing the crab in the gullies.
So why don't you come over here and set north-south?
[jake] I really just don't...
I mean, I know sig's trying to do what he can for the fleet,
but, I mean...
I'm just a little bit nervous, mandy,
'cause I know sig.
Oh, well, don't worry about sig. [chuckles]
there's no harm in sharing some extra information
that'll help both of us out.
These numbers suck.
All right.
I'm about two, three hours away.
When you hear me whistle...
[mandy whistles]
...Then let's just go up three clicks on the family channel, all right?
So we'll just whistle to each other, okay?
[whistles]
you know I don't know how to whistle though, right?
[jake whistles]
[chuckles] that'll do.
-[blowing air] -[mandy speaking]
[jake] sounds good.
I'm not hiding anything from my dad.
I'm just not telling him everything.
I'm gonna do it my way.
This is going to be our first pot.
[casey] I'll let you guys sleep a little bit extra, just because, you know,
we're gonna be a man down today.
I don't want jeff out there just yet.
You know, it's gonna be tough, one extra guy down. But...
I know you guys can do it,
so if it feels like I'm shoving them down your throat,
it's 'cause I am. Just keep up.
-We got it. -You know me.
[casey speaking indistinctly]
we're excited to get this season underway.
It's been way too long since I hauled a pot.
This is a shark fin
and it's slightly shallower than last year.
I chose shallower because the water temp is just a little bit colder
than what it was last year.
Let's see what she has in the hole.
It's different not having josh here, you know.
It's definitely a game-changer.
We got a lot of crab to catch on this boat,
and hopefully we do it in a fairly short amount of time.
Looking for these crab in such a vast area
is just like searching for a needle in a haystack.
Especially when you're doing it in blind set.
[man 1] come on, baby.
[man 2] come on.
Here we go.
[crew cheering and whooping]
[casey] wow.
There's actually crab in that one.
[man 1 shouting]
[man 2] yeah, baby.
Whoo!
Yeah!
Two nine.
Three nine? Two nine.
[whoops] yeah!
It's more fun when josh is here to high-five.
Yeah! [chuckles]
-nice work. -Yeah!
[man] starting to see some good numbers out here.
I'm no mathematician but I think that's about two grand right there.
One pot.
♪ can I get a 30? ♪
[man] yeah!
57. Five seven.
Yeah!
[casey] this area, it's, like, really special.
And I don't see a single pot around me.
Yeah!
[narrator] the second boat in the fleet to land on the crab.
Hey, uh, set that off.
[man] ay, ay.
[narrator] casey makes a call to set back his entire 180-pot load.
I wanna get these pots in the water while I still got real estate.
Before anybody else figures out what I got going,
we'll have 'em all in the water.
[man] coming over.
[casey] get your gear in the water.
[beeping]
then worry about sharing crab.
[johnathan] mcmanus. Mcmanus. Mcmanus.
I got you just fine. What's up?
[johnathan speaking]
we've got about seven and a half average for 24 hours, so...
That was out-beavered. You see where I'm at right now?
And I'm gonna be pulling my gear, packing, and getting out of here.
I mean, probably going over there.
[men shouting indistinctly]
[casey over radio] uh... Yeah.
[man] coming over.
[casey speaking]
come and get it.
[casey] whereas josh and I, you know, are business partners and best friends...
But their gear is their gear and my gear is my gear,
and we got a lot of crab to catch on this boat.
Sort of quiet on that radio.
[chuckles]
[josh] yeah, yeah.
[johnathan] and I'm gonna be pulling my gear, packing, and getting out of here.
[man] move!
[men whooping]
[johnathan] sort of quiet on that radio.
[chuckles]
[josh] yeah, yeah.
Ai, yi, yi.
Okay, not to throw a monkey wrench at you or nothing but...
[radio beeps]
I mean, that's one way to read that.
[johnathan] yeah, okay.
[man speaking]
[josh] that sucks.
[casey] got word from another buddy that they're up by the bowling pin.
There might be crab over that way.
Where was that at?
Where's the center of that one?
Man, I feel like you're a puppy dog
whose ear just curved up when I said car ride.
-Puppy dog. -[casey] you ready?
Uh... 33.94.
-33.94. -[casey] 44 even.
-44 even?
[casey] and then 34 and 7.
We got gear there.
-[casey] you do? -And it was ugly.
[johnathan] we've got about a three-and-a-half average.
[casey speaking]
not buying that one either. Uh-uh.
Nope. What's up with that?
There's a lot of questionable activity here.
Yeah.
[johnathan speaking over radio]
good luck there. Talk to you later.
Yogi out. Say hi to boo-boo for me.
[bleep] smart-ass.
[mimicking casey] oh, your puppy dog ears just raised right up.
We got our gear there, jackass.
-[josh] yeah. -[johnathan] it's not adding up.
Doesn't he get it, you're not supposed to do that?
They hauled a couple pots down below them
in the great trauma scene.
My dad always says, "if you're looking for sympathy,
look between [bleep] and symphony in the dictionary. It's in there somewhere."
[josh] we should try to see if we can sneak up on him.
-Oh, god. -We'll sneak up on your boat.
Because he saw us, he's fallen tens and twelves.
Puppy dog ears.
Let's go see what he's really pulling.
[both laugh]
[man] the truth will set you free.
[narrator] 93 miles northwest...
On the other side of the crab grounds...
Whoa!
Uh-oh.
Man, tide is just up against the weather right now.
We're rolling all over the place.
[narrator] two boats, the lady alaska and the wizard...
Keep hanging out there. Just keep an eye on the weather.
I'm not sure where this came from.
It wasn't forecast or projected.
[narrator] ...Fight building seas
as they search for crab on either side
of the 164 meridian.
[scott jr.] a little squall come in. Weather's kicking up.
Bering sea doesn't want to give up her bounty.
We may have to deal with this one. Not fun.
[keith] I would really like to see some crab in this spot.
[man shouting]
oh, no! What is this?
[bleep] what are they doing?
I haven't seen any crab yet
on the 164 line.
You know, I've only seen one set of bags up here
that's familiar, and it's junior.
So I'm not sure what he's up to.
And to be honest, I really don't give a [bleep].
Coming up. Let's see what happens.
Oh! Horrible.
[man] oh, [bleep]!
You know, I said I was going to go the 164 line...
But I just don't know if working together is really the answer.
[man] oh!
[scott jr.] right now, I just got to concentrate on getting my crab.
[man speaking]
hey, heads up! Heads up!
[man] whoa, whoa, whoa! [bleep]
I mean, we have no survey this year,
and I basically have survey information.
I tried to share that information with keith.
Money ain't part of it.
I'm thinking I'm going to change my mind.
I'm going to go do my own thing.
And I'm going to use the information that I got.
I got to get up there and try and figure out where those crab were.
It was fun while it lasted, but not that fun.
Here we go.
That was my ais.
Now they won't even see us.
Hello, boys.
We're going to go do our own thing like we always do.
We're breaking away from the pack.
We're going our own way.
[man] grab on. Yeah!
So here we go.
A new spot, a new hope.
[keith] we got junior over here saying, "I need crab, give me crab."
he's got his little floppy disk he's running around with right now,
thinking I'm gonna call him for the big save here.
You know what? Don't buy a boat
if you don't have any crab to catch
and don't come to me and ask for it.
I've got a huge crew
and I've got a lot of mouths to feed.
[man speaking] [bleep]
just be careful, we may take a slurp
as I'm going... Making this turn.
Whoa!
You're a rock star.
If the crab doesn't hit, do I have a plan b, c or d?
No, but I'll make one.
But one thing I'm not going to do...
It's extend some type of partnership with junior.
It ain't going to happen.
[man 1] got them!
[man 2] oh!
[keith] even if my whole first set bombs...
-[man 1] you got one? -[man 2] one.
...Bottom line is this...
You know, I cover a lot more ground than most of them.
[man] watch out there!
[keith] and I've mapped this gully out
probably better than any boat in the fleet.
This is the wizard's home turf.
Whoa, what the [bleep] is that?
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
I can't watch a thing!
Wait, heads-up, heads-up, heads-up!
[man] whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
Let's go.
Whoa, what the [bleep] is that?
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
Watch out, watch it. Hang on! Hang on! Hang on!
How are we doin'?
Give me a head count.
We got five guys, right?
[man 1 speaking]
[man 2] are we all good?
[man 1 speaking]
that was a lot of water.
Wow.
Just missed that one, man.
It came rolling down the port side, big time.
Where's the next [bleep] at?
Damn it, keith.
Give me a minute, guys.
Working on this string here.
I'm gonna need, uh...
I need some time to regroup here a little bit,
-all right? -[man] yep.
[narrator] rocked by a 30-foot wave,
captain keith fights high seas...
[man speaking]
[narrator] ...For low numbers.
[keith speaking]
[man speaking]
made a bet they come up
and, uh, let's hope for some decent numbers.
They're going to probably drop off,
but we'll do our best.
[narrator] rather than run in gale conditions...
[keith] what are we going to do about this situation?
We're going to get information out of this gear.
[narrator] ...The skipper doubles down,
expanding his search near the 164 line.
[keith] you know, I'm still doing my survey, still looking.
Just struggled to find the real hotspot
that's, you know, big enough
for the whole fleet to work on.
I'm not giving up hope yet.
[crew cheering and whooping]
so far, I have no complaints
about what's been going on in these gullies.
[man speaking]
big crab. Nice.
Is that us?
[mandy speaking]
well, it's right on my pot there.
Who the hell was that?
[clears throat]
who is that?
There's a bunch of them down here.
[sig grunts]
saga.
That's the number.
[mandy speaking]
well, it's not pot-for-pot. He's crossing through.
Sooner they get into the gully.
Now I'm seeing saga here all over the place.
Well, I mean, you shared some info with everyone.
I shared information, but not specific.
Not like that.
I've been doing this a long time.
I know when a guy is looking around
and when a guy's dialing in,
and that is dialing in.
Why the hell is jake over here?
Have you talked to him?
Did you tell him to set us down?
No.
But you told him we were over here?
I never told him exactly where we were.
I just told him that they'd like the gullies.
That was it.
You got your friends and I got my friends.
And he's honestly, he's practically family to me.
[sig] family?
I don't see him on this boat anymore, do you?
That is my personal, private information.
That is sacred to me, that's sacred.
I mean, look,
that's what you get, every time you try to be nice,
they step right on you.
You know, you start jumping on people like that,
then your numbers go in half.
I mean, that's just common sense.
Just thought I'd bounce a little bit of information back and forth,
you know, I hoped then he could help me someday.
[indistinct chatter on radio]
[sig groans]
whoa!
Yeah.
[bleep]
all right.
Hey, are you on this one?
What channels have you been using here?
That's not my channel. Jake?
[jake] yeah, all right, let's set it.
[sig] jake?
Yeah. Roger!
[sig] so you're talking to mandy, huh?
[jake] yeah, she's, uh...
The channel named mandy.
Well, I'm figuring that out pretty quick here.
So what have you guys been talking about?
Fishing.
[sig] yeah, I can see you've been talking about fishing.
I see that all around me.
That's very obvious.
I thought we're supposed to work together, all of us.
If you're not sharing the depth...
That's only a half truth.
If you ask me, that sounds a lot like a lie.
Well, I am working together.
I have shared information.
I've been on a channel with the whole damn fleet.
So we are working together.
I'm just saying, by going all in on one spot,
you can hurt the end game.
He just doesn't get it.
-He doesn't get it. -[sig] this is a fleet effort.
He won't get it.
He will never get that we know what we're doing.
If we fail, everybody fails.
I don't think we're cramming them all into one basket.
I get it. That's why I'm looking all around.
-That's what she's looking. -You're not getting it.
You just don't see the big picture.
-We know the egg's in the bas... -[bleep] off.
When you're done talking, you're done talking.
I'm not mad at you guys.
I just... I understand what you're doing, mandy.
I get it.
The point is, we need to play this game a little bit longer,
everybody, so that we can get done as a whole.
I was just trying to help, dad.
[sig] I know. I know you were.
[bird chirping]
[cell phone ringing]
[wild bill] there it is.
[cell phone ringing]
[on cell phone]
okay, please do.
-Yeah, uh... -Oh.
[chuckles] thanks, doc.
Thanks for your help.
Absolutely. My pleasure. You guys take care.
-All right, thanks. -Stay healthy.
Stay healthy. There you go.
[alarm buzzes]
take them damn flags down.
He's negative. He's just got the bug.
-Oh, come on. -[man 1] yeah.
Thank god.
-[man 2] ready? Let's go! -[man 1] ready.
Hey, nick, get up.
-You ain't got it. -[nick] no?
No, you came negative, buddy.
[narrator] with his deck boss testing negative for covid-19,
I don't have covid, I'm good to go.
Whatever you got, don't give it to the rest of us.
[narrator] ...Captain wild bill can finally join the fleet
on the king grounds.
Still kind of
under the weather.
Well, I think I can still help on deck.
[wild bill] nick can have the flu.
He could have a cold.
He could have a clap, but it ain't covid.
Hey, guys, come on in here for a minute.
I got something to show you.
[man] come on up, guys.
All right, what you got?
[jonathan] I got these night vision glasses.
Here, try these on.
-[man] whoa! What is this? -[jonathan] night-time vision.
It's nighttime vision.
Yeah, nighttime vision. Try it on, try it on.
-Does that work? -Wow.
[exclaims] I can see miles and miles away.
[johnathan] we're gonna sneak up on your boat,
see what casey's gettin'.
I'm gonna turn all the lights off,
so I'll watch you guys spill the seed.
[narrator] what do you do if you suspect your partner is cheating?
[johnathan] these fellas use more of tens and twelves.
-We're gonna spy on you. -[man laughs]
see what kinda crabbing they got.
[narrator] well, if you're a hillstrand,
you strap on night vision goggles,
turn off your tracking beacon,
and sneak your 328-tonne vessel
into his blind spot.
We're just making sure that, uh,
casey is keeping the boat honest over there,
he's being honest.
I wanna scare the hell out of him, too.
He might have to change his underwear.
We're gonna go stealth mode
and sneak up onto him and surprise him.
[man] okay, we've got contact. Let's go!
Shut our lights down.
Let's turn it all black.
He can't see us, dude.
Black ops.
[laughs]
we're almost there.
-[man exclaiming] -yeah!
I like it!
[man whooping]
it started off a little slow,
but now it's paying off.
[all cheering]
yeah, baby!
Mmm-hmm.
Happy, happy.
[josh] that's the cornelia, right there.
I can see the name of the boat.
I'm gonna get in closer.
I feel like a stalker ex-girlfriend right now.
-Isn't that strange? -[chortles]
he can't even see us, dude.
We're right in there, they don't even know we're here.
He's got a full pot.
He's got a pot right up in front of him.
Is that what it is? Do you see a pot?
There we go. He's pulling a pot in.
-Okay. -[man 1] coming over.
[man 2] okay. It looks something like he got that pot.
[men cheering and whooping]
yeah, baby!
[johnathan] are you kidding me?
Sons of bitches, we got you.
That's a nice pot.
-[josh] [bleep] yeah, dude. -Dude!
Game's over, buddy.
The jig is up.
-Gotta call your boys, man. -Yeah.
Dude, I'm calling him right now.
[phone ringing]
cornelia marie. This is casey.
Dude, what are you doing right now?
What am... What am I doing?
What do you mean what am I doing right now?
I'm gonna go haul some more gear.
I've been through the gear.
Just, my first average on the initial set sucked.
I bumped it around a little bit.
I think I might be better off over here by myself
'cause I'm getting sign of crab.
I just haven't got into the meat pile yet.
You can't make that [bleep] up there.
[laughs] [bleep] dude.
Johnny, hit the lights.
Oh, yeah. Surprise, surprise!
[chuckles]
we got you, baby!
[whooping]
[narrator] this week on salty takes...
Well, I'll tell you this,
never get into a staring contest with a seagull.
[narrator] ...Unsure if he can trust the fleet,
keith forges a bond
with a new-found feathered friend.
[keith] I mean, it does get lonely up here.
So, I mean, there are times when
just having a seagull in your window is not a bad thing.
You got somebody to talk to. [chuckles]
[imitates gull cawing]
just had a conversation with him.
He's gonna go do some scouting for me.
Better than a drone.
Go find some crab for me, buddy.
Dude, what are you doing right now?
I'm getting sign of crab,
I just haven't got into the meat pile yet.
[men cheering]
[man] yeah, that's the spirit!
You can't make that [bleep] up there.
[laughs] [bleep] dude.
Johnny, hit the lights.
Oh, yeah.
Surprise, surprise! Ha-ha!
[man] we got you, baby!
[men whooping]
[horn blowing]
-[josh] we got you, buddy. -[johnathan] got you!
I can see you!
-Yep, we can see you. -[bleep]
dude!
We've got you, mcmanus!
[shouting]
what?
That was pretty good, mcmanus.
Nice try.
[snickers] we've been following you for about ten minutes, dude.
Holy [bleep]
dude! Where the hell did he come from?
Where the hell did you come from?
[laughs]
we got night vision over here, dude.
[laughs]
[sig] are you listening to this?
-[mandy laughs] -night vision.
Johnathan has night vision goggles?
[sig] that's the only guy that would do that.
[mandy] only guy on the bering sea.
Oh, yeah, ma'am.
You're a tough fish, so I'm watching you.
Dude!
[johnathan] casey is...
These fellas use more of tens and twelves.
That's john on the family channel.
[man] it's like 50.
What? No.
[johnathan] the game's over, buddy. We got you.
We got you!
[laughs]
oh, god.
Now you got me good.
Sounds like time bandit boys gave casey a little spanking.
All right, buddy, what type of fish are you on?
This string started off a little rough,
but we are trending better as we move to the east.
We got some pretty good pots coming over the rail here.
I'm not the [bleep] that didn't call in.
I tried, it just...
Get your gear in the water,
then worry about sharing crab.
It's always been our motto on this boat
and it's worked well for josh and I.
Sorry, guys.
Dude, if you're gonna cheat, don't get caught.
[scott jr.] it's all gonna fall apart.
Everybody's gonna think, "oh, he's lying to me.
He's doing this, he's doing that."
all of this expensive [bleep]
and you didn't see a 120-foot boat coming.
[casey] I wasn't watching, brah.
Apparently.
Mcmanus, straighten up.
It's okay.
[bleep] it all, move on.
[johnathan] I understand.
I understand that. That's a human nature thing.
It's hard to change your human nature.
But there was a deal, the deal was made.
We all agreed. We raised our hands.
That's what we did at the pier.
It's gonna be interesting to see how long
this little "band of brothers" stick together.
[scott jr.] we're doing it. We're making a move right now.
Keith made a big mistake.
He should have listened to me.
[man] oh, man. Come on!
I generally don't do this,
but, you know what?
I'm gonna at least listen to junior
and see what he has to say.
[sig] asking a bunch of crab fishermen to work together
is damn near impossible.
But we still have to catch that boat.
[men shouting]
[jake] wow.
52, just like mandy said.
Take it aboard. Mandy's on our side.
[whistling]
[sig] the game we're playing is too big.
Hey, jake.
I'm just calling to tell you I know where they are,
north to south in the gullies.
[sig] but at the same time, the ocean is so volatile.
Injuries, breakdowns,
storms as well.
Dump it.
[sig] it's inevitable.
We've got 200 pots on one long string right here.
Here with the cornelia.
When all of us work together,
we could save our fishery.
You know, and it's... I don't...
I don't want to hang up the reins yet.
Are we ready? Let 'em loose.
-Let's go fishing! -[men] yeah!
[sig] if we fail, we could lose everything.
No more thinking about it. It's time to do it.
[sig] I know we could start together.
As far as how long that trust is gonna last...
[scoffs] ...We're just gonna have to wait and see.
♪ the strong survive ♪
♪ we're all fighting something ♪
looking bad, looking bad.
Easy, easy!
-Oh, watch out. -[man] watch out!
[grunts] [bleep] push!
You put your best guy on the crane!
Whoa, watch out.
Watch it, watch it!
[whooping triumphantly]
we got it!
Dude!
Bang, bang!
♪ the strong survive ♪
he can't tell us we can't fish there.
Please, god, please, no.
You [bleep] moron!
[siren wailing]
I gotta go.
-What is going on? -I don't know!