Q: How many years have you captained the boat, and how many years have you been fishing?
A: I've been fishing for 26 years, and we built the Time Bandit in 1991. So I'd say that's 16 years that I've been running the Time Bandit for opilio (I hope I'm doing the math right!).
Q: Do you have any other siblings besides Johnathan and if so, do they fish as well?
A: Yes, I have three other brothers besides Johnathan. Neal is on the boat fishing with us on all these episodes. Of my other two brothers, one is a doctor, and one works on the North Slope of Alaska, up on the oil fields.
Q: What was it like to build the Time Bandit?
A: It was pretty challenging. We built it with our father, so we built that whole boat in nine months, which is pretty good. I have five brothers in total, counting myself. And as you can expect, we had some times with our father when we didn't get along too well. But to build a crab boat like that in nine months is pretty good.
Q: What is your relationship like with your brothers off the boat?
A: My brothers are pretty much my best friends, besides my wife. We've always been competitive, but we love each other.
Q: Is it frustrating sometimes to switch to the deck when you are used to being in the captain's seat? Do you think about what decision you would have made as opposed to the one your brother made?
A: I've been doing it for so long, switching to the deck, for 14 years. So it's almost a relief for me to go down on deck because I don't have to think about running the boat.
Q: You seem to be very easygoing in the captain's chair. How do you guys stay so collected during such nervewracking times?
A: I've always been pretty laid back, but I do get excited from time to time. The first year being on the show, I didn't really know what to do with all the cameras around, so I was just sort of doing my job and kind of not being myself, really. I can get excited at times, for sure! But I'm not what you'd consider a hot-head. My dad always was a hot-head, a screamer. And that just caused confusion, so that's why I've gone the other way.
Q: How hard is it to accept a greenhorn into the main group of the deckhands?
A: With the quota system that's happened to us, we went from 240 boats down to 80 boats, so approximately 800 to 1000 good crew members have lost their jobs. So it's hard for me to justify hiring a greenhorn when there are so many qualified guys out there who'd love the job. Compared to the old days, when greenhorns could just walk on the dock and ask for a job. And it still happens now, but rarely. A guy on the Aleutian Ballad got a job that way. He said he was going to jump overboard if they didn't take him in. And now this year, a guy on the Wizard basically walked in off the deck.
