FV Northwestern
Encyclopedia
F/V Northwestern is an Alaskan crab, Pacific cod
Pacific Cod
The Pacific cod, Gadus macrocephalus, is an important commercial food species. It is also known as gray cod, gray goo, gray wolf, grayest or grayfish. It has three separate dorsal fins, and the catfish-like whiskers on its lower jaw. In appearance, it is similar to the Atlantic Cod...
, and salmon
Salmon
Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
tendering fishing vessel notable for being featured in the Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
series Deadliest Catch
Deadliest Catch
Deadliest Catch is a documentary/reality television series produced by Original Productions for the Discovery Channel. It portrays the real life events aboard fishing vessels in the Bering Sea during the Alaskan king crab and C. opilio crab fishing seasons.The Aleutian Islands port of Dutch Harbor,...
. The vessel is owned and operated by the Hansen family of Washington state; the current captain is Sig Hansen
Sig Hansen
Sigurd Jonny "Sig" Hansen is an American Captain of the fishing vessel Northwestern. Since 2006, Hansen has been featured in all seasons of the documentary television series Deadliest Catch, for which he also serves as technical advisor for the production.-Early life:Sigurd Jonny Hansen was born...
and his brothers, Edgar and Norman, are both deckhands/engineers on the ship.
History
The Northwestern, a western rigged boat, was constructed in 1977 at Marco Shipyards in SeattleSeattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
for the sole purpose of fishing King
King crab
King crabs, also called stone crabs, are a superfamily of crab-like decapod crustaceans chiefly found in cold seas. Because of their large size and the taste of their meat, many species are widely caught and sold as food, the most common being the red king crab, Paralithodes camtschaticus.King...
and Tanner
Chionoecetes bairdi
Chionoecetes bairdi is a species of crab known alternatively as bairdi crab and tanner crab. C. bairdi is closely related to Chionoecetes opilio, and it can be difficult to distinguish C. opilio from C. bairdi. Both species are found in the Bering Sea and are sold commercially under the name "Snow...
Crab off of the coast of Alaska. It was christened Northwestern on November 5, 1977 by Snefrid Hansen, wife of then-captain Sverre Hansen and mother of the current owner/operators, Sig, Norman, and Edgar Hansen.
To keep up with the increasing demand for crab in the late 1980s and early '90s, boats needed to carry more pots (steel box shaped traps that are used to fish crab). Rather than buying a new boat, the Hansen family decided to have the Northwestern extended twice. Originally built at 108 feet (32.9 m) with the ability to carry 156 pots, the Northwestern was extended to 118 feet (36.0 m) in 1987 to allow for 200 pots. In 1991, when the maximum crab pots a boat could carry was raised to 250, the Hansens again had the Northwestern lengthened, this time to 125 ft (38.1 m). Today, in the IFQ system, they usually carry no more than 195 pots.
Sverre Hansen's three sons worked aboard the Northwestern as deckhands throughout their childhood, and all three decided to make fishing their profession, joining in the long line of Hansen men making their living as fishermen throughout the generations. Sig Hansen, the eldest, took over as captain of the Northwestern full time in 1990. Under his leadership, the Northwestern boasts an astounding record of never having suffered a death at sea despite its home territory being the dangerous Alaskan crab grounds, where deaths average out to nearly one fisherman per week during the heart of its productive seasons.
Current status
Today, the Northwestern continues to fish Red King CrabParalithodes camtschaticus
The red king crab, Paralithodes camtschaticus, is a species of king crab native to the Bering Sea. It grows to a leg span of , and is heavily targeted by fisheries.-Description:...
, Tanner Crab
Chionoecetes bairdi
Chionoecetes bairdi is a species of crab known alternatively as bairdi crab and tanner crab. C. bairdi is closely related to Chionoecetes opilio, and it can be difficult to distinguish C. opilio from C. bairdi. Both species are found in the Bering Sea and are sold commercially under the name "Snow...
, and Opilio crab
Chionoecetes opilio
Chionoecetes opilio is a predominantly epifaunal crustacean found at shelf depths in the northwest Atlantic Ocean and north Pacific Ocean. It is a well-known commercial species of Chionoecetes, often caught with traps or by trawling. Male C. opilio with a total length above long are the most...
; however, it is now one of few boats to engage in pot cod
Cod
Cod is the common name for genus Gadus, belonging to the family Gadidae, and is also used in the common name for various other fishes. Cod is a popular food with a mild flavor, low fat content and a dense, flaky white flesh. Cod livers are processed to make cod liver oil, an important source of...
fishing as well, which was filmed for episodes of Deadliest Catch during the 2006 Opilio crab season. The "Northwestern" was one of the few vessels to fish for Blue King Crab
Paralithodes platypus
The blue king crab, Paralithodes platypus, is a species of king crab which lives near St. Matthew Island, the Pribilof Islands, and the Diomede Islands, Alaska, with further populations along the coasts of Japan and Russia...
in 2009 after completing its Red King Crab season. During the summer, the vessel keeps busy tendering (transporting fish from the vessels at sea to the floating processors, allowing the fishing boats to stay on the grounds rather than make repeated trips back to port) salmon and herring, usually under the command of Edgar Hansen.
The Northwestern is one of the most successful boats in the crab fishing fleet. It continues to meet its quota and bring in money for the crew and family; the vessel won both the tonnage and price titles in both the final King crab derby in 2005 and the final opilio crab derby in 2006, and as a result, her share of the available quota under the new IFQ fishing rules is among the largest in the fleet. The vessel has become popular and very recognizable due to it being prominently featured in the Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
series Deadliest Catch. The boat is featured in Cars 2
Cars 2
Cars 2 is a 2011 American computer-animated action film produced by Pixar, and it is the sequel to the 2006 film, Cars. In the film, race car Lightning McQueen and tow truck Mater head to Japan and Europe to compete in the World Grand Prix, but Mater becomes sidetracked with international espionage...
and is voiced by Sig.
The Northwestern is now the only boat on Deadliest Catch that has been there, with the same captain, since season 1.
In addition to the three Hansen brothers—Sig, Norman, and Edgar—the remainder of the crew consists of longtime deckhands Matt Bradley and Nick Mavar, Jr., and Nick's nephew, Jake Anderson, who earned full-share deckhand status during the 2009 opilio season.
Non-Alaskan seafood
The Hansen brothers, owners/operators of the Northwestern, endorsed a brand of Russian King Crab being sold at discount chains such as WalmartWal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
. The decision to put the Northwestern name and colors on a non-Alaskan product has caused some controversy in the Alaskan fishing community, which the Hansens addressed in a November 2007 press release. In the press release, the Hansens note that 50-70% of Alaskan King Crab is purchased by Japan and never reaches U.S. stores or restaurants; by bringing Russian King Crab to the American market, the Hansens hope that the increased demand for King Crab will benefit the Alaskan fishing fleet by raising the price of King Crab overall. The President of Global (the company producing the Russian product) was later arrested in Russia and the Hansens terminated the agreement and contracts with Global at that time.
In fiction
The FV Northwestern inspired the character Crabby the Boat in the film Cars 2Cars 2
Cars 2 is a 2011 American computer-animated action film produced by Pixar, and it is the sequel to the 2006 film, Cars. In the film, race car Lightning McQueen and tow truck Mater head to Japan and Europe to compete in the World Grand Prix, but Mater becomes sidetracked with international espionage...
.