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Surfrat: Do you ever have second thoughts about working for Sig wen he makes you crab for over 30 hours?
Matt: I do, now that the fishery is IFQ (Individual Fishing Quota). The longer hours are not as necessary. But we still have a timeline with the canneries of when we have to deliver that we have to make, so sometimes even Sig doesn't make that call of when we deliver. We have to get the product to the cannery. But this is one of the best boats to be on — Sig's got big quotas. I would never jump ship now — too much money to be made on that rig.
Trblcmn: How does your family like your crabbing for a living?
Matt: It used to scare the hell out of my mom. Now that she's seen the show, she's even more scared! They pretty much accept it, though. I've been doing it for enough years. And there's always that chance you might not come home, so I have a good life insurance policy.
Skyrider: Why do some crews throw the shot on top of the pot and others elect to throw it over the side?
Matt: Almost everyone throws at least one shot on top of the pot. Different depths require more shots of line. So you still end up throwing 2-3 over the side, and one on top of the pot. Throwing the first shot on top of the pot is ultimately the safest. It gives you 30 fathoms between you and ocean bottom if you were to get tangled. In case you didn't know, there are 6 feet to a fathom. And if you want to know the metric system, figure it out yourself.
Charlee: Hi Matt, just wanted to say congrats on the 70+ days clean. Well done and keep up the good work! What boat had the man overboard?
Matt: The Trailblazer, out of Oregon. And thanks for your good wishes. It might even be 71 days today.
Fishslayer: Matt, if you could have anything shown about life on the Northwestern that hasn't already, what would it be?
Matt: There are so many different angles to this job, it's hard to say. Maybe why we're working so hard to get our crab in. The whole IFQ process — why it is, and what has changed for us since it came into effect. There are things that I can't divulge that are going to come up in the next episodes.
Rhoberta: Do you see yourself still fishing 10 years from now?
Matt: I got maybe 7 more years of crab fishing in me. Then it's time to go to trawling. On to another fishery, one that's not so physically demanding.
