Despite what Discovery may tell you about the deadly quest for Bering Sound king crabs, statistics show that it is much more dangerous to go for sole, flounder and the terrible codfish in the Northeast.
Commercial fishing is statistically the most dangerous profession in America. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a US government agency, an annual average of 58 fishermen died during the 1992-2008 period, corresponding to 128 deaths per 100,000 workers. A comparable figure for the whole US work force was only 4 deaths per 100,000 workers.
Safety recommendations the agency started issuing in the 1990s have significantly reduced accidents in the formerly hard-hit Alaska Bering Sea crab fishery, while now the Atlantic scallop fishery and fishing for West Coast Dungeness crabs imply much higher statistical risks.
“There are different hazards in different fisheries,” Jennifer Lincoln, the lead author of the study, told the New York Times. “In the Northeast, they go to sea for longer periods of time and further out to sea with larger crews. So when a vessel sinks, there are more lives at risk. The Gulf of Mexico is warmer water; New England is cold.”