Crew of the Equinox unload crab from the vessel’s hold Sunday. See related story Page 3A. Photo by Lucinda Williams

With fishermen allowed to take their pots out of the water as of last Sunday morning, buyers at the Port of Brookings Harbor have been buying paying a record $3 per pound for the catch.

One skipper reported hauling back 30,000 pounds of crab in the season’s first 48 hours – a payout total payout of $90,000 to be shared with crew members.

Most boats, even the largest vessels, likely won’t venture onto the ocean for the next few days, though.

When crab fishermen can head back out, most observers believe they will again have good results such as those encountered during the first few days of the postponed season.

“I’m hearing that the crab are looking really good,” said Ted Fitzgerald, manager of the Port of Brookings Harbor. “They are hard and they are heavy.

“I hear there are a lot of undersized ones, which means a good season next year.”

Gloria Grimsley, manager of Hallmark Fisheries said fisherman report the crab less abundant this year, but meatier than last year.

Veteran crab fisherman Bernie Lindley said his crew is among those who will take some time off during the storm.

“It’s supposed to be pretty savage,” he said.

Lindley said the vast majority of crab fishermen are responsible people who don’t like to take chances. The industry has changed in the last two to three decades, he said, transforming itself from a time when fishermen were a hard-partying group once back in port.

“Those have died off,” Lindley said. “Now we’re talking about people who have mortgages and families. We are a professional group.”

He said it isn’t uncommon for newcomers to last a few years before learning how tough the job is, and move on to another livelihood.

Those who stay longterm can make $30,000 during a good crab season and up to $60,000 a year fishing a variety of species, he said.

Skippers and crewmen with lots of experience survive in a demanding market because they know how to be self-sufficient – repairing their boats and doing other tasks when necessary.

“It’s not like we can call AAA,” Lindley said of problems on the ocean. “We have to be experts in electronics and wiring.”

Although the competition among fishermen is keen, Lindley emphasized that most will stop fishing and go to the aid of another fisherman who is in trouble. That ethic was exhibited Sunday when a boat lost power off Gold Beach and another crew tried to pull the other craft to safety (the U.S. Coast Guard eventually brought the ailing craft back to the Port of Brookings Harbor with no injuries to the crew).

“We are competitors yet we try to work together,” said Lindley. “These are guys who would risk their own life to save someone.”