A look back at Kodiak's boom-bust king crab fishery and its early innovators
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Kodiak Daily Mirror] By Toby Sullivan - October 14, 2014 -
(Toby Sullivan is the executive director of the Kodiak Maritime Museum.)
As the King Crab fishery peaked in the mid-1960s, everyone in Kodiak knew that something extraordinary was happening. Millions of pounds of crabs were coming across the docks, new state of the art crab boats arrived every week, thousands of young people were suddenly in town, and fortunes were being made and spent with equal abandon.
The work was lucrative- $50,000 crew shares were not unheard of — but the fishery was extremely dangerous too, and boats and men were lost at sea on a regular basis every winter. These elements of youth, money and danger made Kodiak an exhilarating place to be.
Then, in 1982, it ended...
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