Péril en haute mer

Dutch Harbor, Alaska, the largest fishing port in the United States, is buzzing as 81 fishing vessels, including the Northwestern, the Cornelia Marie and the Time Bandit, return to start the 2006 red king crab season.

While equipment failures plague the Northwestern and the Cornelia Marie, the Time Bandit and the Maverick start fishing only to have one boat come up empty while the other fills pots.

After a deadly start, the Bering Sea is still claiming victims. Working in high seas, a deckhand on the Wizard suffers a crippling injury, and the Farwest Leader finds pots of gold at the hands of the captain's wife.

Halfway through crab season, the grind is on as crews work 40 hours without sleep. Both the Maverick and the Farwest Leader must stop for repairs, and the Time Bandit rescues a fisherman who has fallen off a passing crab boat.

As the end of the king crab season draws near, the captains consider their positions in a friendly captains' wager made before the season. The Time Bandit crew starts dropping gear and hauling in record numbers.

The red king crab season comes to a close. The Northwestern finishes a 30-hour grind and steams for port while the Cornelia Marie returns to Dutch Harbor injury-free. The fishermen have a short rest before opilio crab season.

As the opilio crab season opens, greenhorns experience the subfreezing temperatures and icy winter waters of the Bering Sea for the first time. The Northwestern's pots are battered by rough weather and sea lions.

High seas cause Andy Hillstrand to call his men off deck on the Time Bandit moments before a rogue wave hits the starboard side. The Northwestern is plagued by bad luck as an engine problem forces the boat to head for port.

Busted buoys, broken pots and a blown engine put the Northwestern more than a week behind schedule. A monster storm blows through the Time Bandit and Cornelia Marie's grounds, and both boats fish through the onslaught.

A greenhorn on the Wizard has only worked three days and is already faltering, but the Northwestern and Cornelia Marie greenhorns step up to prove their worth.

The promise of a great catch outweighs the dangerous risks of opilio crab fishing season. The Farwest Leader deals with the loss of one engine, and the Time Bandit is caught in an ice pack when the weather changes drastically.

It's the end of opilio crab season, and while some of the greenhorns have succeeded in their quests to become Bering Sea crab fishermen, others won't be coming back. The crab tally is in, and a winner is declared.