A Taste of the Bearing Sea

Subsistence is alive and well in Nome. We were offered a chance to go out on the ice to check crab pots by two Nome residents. As always, we enjoyed both the learning experience and having someone with ice safety knowledge take us out on the Norton Sound.

Pulling up a pot set a few days earlier.

Drilling a hole with another crabber
to set a pot for the first time.

Chipping away the collected ice
from an existing pot.

After showing us how to set/ check the traps, we were given a few of the smaller crabs to try for ourselves. Even with the small ones, I had a hard time fitting them in a 12qt pot! These Red King Crabs are huge and they are definitely not the largest in the region.

Kimberly, showing off the catch. 

We learned a few fun pieces of information about crabbing:

1). To have a legal trap, you need to have a flap on the side tied shut with cotton string.

This is so that if the pot gets lost or the rope gets cut the string will rot and the crabs can escape.

2). If you cover the hole with foam insulation board,  the hole won't freeze shut nearly as fast.

Saves you some work.

3). It's common to have a lot of snow fall on top of the ice, if you shovel this off, throw it down wind so snow won't drift even higher on top of your work area the next day.

4). Keep the crabs in a cooler. You want them cool, not freezing or they'll die. Crab is far better if cooked when it's fresh.

5). When using your ice pick (pictured above behind Kimberly), put a string on the end and tie it to your person.

If not, when it breaks through the ice it may fall 35' or more to the ocean floor and there's no getting that back...

6). Scoop as much of the ice slush out of the hole right away, otherwise the hole disappears and can't be seen. 

Zoey didn't realized this and almost fell in. 

Zoey checking out the strange hole
we were creating after she dried off.

What hole in the ice?

The kids at the Boys & Girls Club
enjoying the live catch.

7). Lastly, share your catch.
It's tradition here to provide for others in your family and community when you have a successful hunt. Since we were given the crab to eat ourselves, I decided to share the experience with the kids that Kimberly works with every day. Before they were cooked, the four king crabs made an appearance at Boys & Girls Club.