Deadliest Catch and the Deadliest Regulation

I was watching the deadliest catch (a great hang-over show by the way) on Saturday and it was a rerun of the first episode from (I believe) this season. The narrator began by introducing the idea behind the show (it’s crab!) and then began to describe how regulation from the fish and game commission had cut the number of boats allowed to fish for crab by about 2/3, from 250 to 89 (these numbers aren’t exact – my memory is kind of fuzzy).

The reason for the regulation wasn’t given, but it sure wasn’t to protect crab populations because the season’s crab quota went unchanged. It wasn’t to protect to the deckhands, because by extending the season all of the crew faces a higher risk from exposure and extreme weather conditions. So basically all of the captains of the 89 ships who were left in the fleet got a super sweet deal which extends their fishing season and allows them all to bring in nearly twice as much crab at the expense of the deckhands and the all of the other fishing captains who couldn’t get their hands on licenses.

Per the tradition, the season kicks off with a group of the captains at a bar having a send-off before the season starts. Right before the show cuts to commercial the captains have a toast to “fish and game.” I can see no legitimate reason for this kind of arbitrary regulation besides giving a huge boon to the well-connected fishing captains at the expense of their crews.