# About Deadliest Catch's quotas **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 26, 2019, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-deadliest-catchs-quotas/836085 "2019-06-26T04:31:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a87d85/32.png) [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Dodgy_Dude)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-deadliest-catchs-quotas/836085/1 "2019-06-26T04:31:03Z")
I don’t remember Mike Rowe ever explaining how the quotas work. If a boat has a quota of 250,000 pounds, does that mean they are forbidden from catching more than 250,000 lbs.? Or they have to catch at least 250,000 lbs.? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-deadliest-catchs-quotas/836085/2 "2019-06-26T05:15:07Z")
> [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](#): > > I don’t remember Mike Rowe ever explaining how the quotas work. > > If a boat has a quota of 250,000 pounds, does that mean they are forbidden from catching more than 250,000 lbs.? > > Or they have to catch at least 250,000 lbs.? [It’s the former (i.e., they can catch no more than their quota).](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaskan_king_crab_fishing#Rationalization:_derby_vs._quota) The industry used to operate under a “derby” system, where the boats were only allowed to fish for certain species in very limited time periods (the first season or two of “Deadliest Catch” took place under the derby format, IIRC). The industry changed over to the quota system after the 2005 fishing season, with safety being the primary reason for the change, as, under the old system, you had crews working nonstop to catch as many crabs as they could during the limited time window. ---
**Author:** ![A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a87d85/32.png) [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Dodgy_Dude)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-deadliest-catchs-quotas/836085/3 "2019-06-26T16:46:34Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > [It’s the former (i.e., they can catch no more than their quota).](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaskan_king_crab_fishing#Rationalization:_derby_vs._quota) The industry used to operate under a “derby” system, where the boats were only allowed to fish for certain species in very limited time periods (the first season or two of “Deadliest Catch” took place under the derby format, IIRC). > > The industry changed over to the quota system after the 2005 fishing season, with safety being the primary reason for the change, as, under the old system, you had crews working nonstop to catch as many crabs as they could during the limited time window. Ah! Thanks, **Kenobi**. Do you know if there is any kind of “grace period” – meaning you catch your quota and the gov’t will let you slide if you catch a little more because you can’t know the exact weight of all those thousands of crabs? Or is the rule: your quota and not a single ounce more? ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2019, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-deadliest-catchs-quotas/836085/4 "2019-06-27T02:33:39Z")
And how do they know the weight? Just an educated guess of the typical weight per crab times however many crab they count going into the tank? I’d like to hope there’s plenty of tolerance in those quota numbers if that’s how it works. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2019, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-deadliest-catchs-quotas/836085/5 "2019-06-27T03:40:47Z")
I found a site online that covers some of this. The short answer is that they’re estimating based on counts. > [@](#): > > To count crabs on the Deadliest Catch, the crabs are put onto a sorting table, with only the keepers being kept. The females and smaller ones are put back. The keepers are then counted and placed into holding tanks, with an average weight of each crab used to calculate quotas. If a boat is a little over quota when they arrive to offload, it’s generally over-looked. If they are way over, they can be fined. Captains in that situation have been known to work out a deal with another captain who is under quota. The other captain takes the crab, and presumably some sort of remuneration is made back to the first captain. In some cases, the excess crab is just dumped. The crabs are generally alive at this point, so it’s not as bad as it could be, but it’s not great either. The site is [here](https://pontoonopedia.com/how-do-they-count-crab-on-deadliest-catch/) with more information.