Starting August of 2005 the Bering Sea crab fleet starts a new era where crab quotas are assigned to vessels based on catch history thereby eliminating the “derby” format and allowing a rational approach which will allow catcher processors to maximize the value of their allocation. This will also allow planning of the fishing season which will allow the vessels to operate more profitably and allow the boats to pick the optimum times to longline and crab fish. The crab rationalization coupled with our vessels versatility and strong ownership group involving CDQ partners makes us very optimistic about our future in the North Pacific Fisheries.

Seeking to stay busy in the ever evolving world of commercial fishing the Courageous installed a Mustad automated longline system in the late 1980’s enabling the vessel to enter the Pacific cod fishery for the first time. Baranof followed suit a year later and both boats spent most of the early to mid 1990’s fishing opilio crab part of the year and longlining part of the year with some short king crab seasons occurring occasionally in the fall.