Saturday, May 23, 2009

Cornelia Marie's End of King Crab Season on "Deadliest Catch" and a visit from that old Criminal Crab "George"

So, with the End of the King Crab Season On Deadliest Catch I thought it might be nice to revisit George From the Cornelia Marie.
I had posted some of these pictures before in December when it actually took place back on The 8th-9th. (Yes, they were the Last boat in). The Cornelia Marie Offloads at the Unisea Dock, of which The map above details.
It is a Pretty long dock, Just for visual reference. If you ever view the weather cams you can see Haystack Hill where several Cameras are located in the background (Just look at the transmission Tower)
The Girl was not looking too bad after King season. (After Opie Season Though All the boats look rough)
Now, For all of those who have NOT seen it before, (I have alot more Followers now then I did then), A little story about George, A King Crab's Fate after leaving the Cornelia Marie.......
You see them coming in For an "Offload" all the time on the show, But What Happens AFTER?
From The ship the Crab are transported the short distance to the Processing plant. At Unisea they use forklifts
Now, Meet George. George is an evil Criminal Crab that tried to snap at CB when he was taking these photos!! George is responsible for many heinous acts, Including robbery, Murder and Grevious Bodily assualt on innocent seahorses!! Notice the Markings on his claws because we will follow him through the entire process to come!
The Crab are "Dumped" (Though George was "placed") onto the feeder bay for the Butchering line. Just look at him Exposing Himself like a common trollop!! He really does have no shame!!
George is "Selected" and given to the First Butcher in Line for his "Sentence"....
George is lined up.........
........and with a quick THWAPP........(BTW our Mayor Shirley Marquardt that you see occassionally on Deadliest Catch started out doing this job. Alaska women are awesome!)
...It's all over for George's Evil Criminal Career!! (A much kinder fate than he offered his victims!)
He is then goes through the first wash and on to.........
.....the "gilling" line, where all the gills and other "stuff" are removed from the leg clusters.
It is a Messy job. The smell is not "bad" per say though, just very "pungent" with Crab. Not a Bad smell, but you would not want a fragrance candle of it........
George them moves on to the weighing and sorting line. Here what is referred to as "Dirty Crab" is sorted out and costs the boats some cash. For all his evil George was a "Clean Crab" the one in the next photo was not.....
The Clusters are separated by weight (Over or Under 950 grams) and boxed up accordingly for the cooking process.....
Look at George's Claw!! No More Snapping at CB!!!
The Crab is loaded into the boxes and then goes into the cooking baths for about 30 minutes...
.......almost all crab you eat at a restaurant is precooked because it goes "bad" so fast and starts to "blue" right after death.
It is then Chilled to frozen in a Saltwater Brine bath very quickly to preserve it.
It is then quickly boxed up and placed into Cold storage.
Here is George's Box sitting in the Freezer at the Grand Aleutian........amazing how he ended up here huh?.............LOL

AND FINALLY George's Final Fate. A Sunday Brunch at the Grand. You know for a evil Criminal Crab he was rather tasty.................LOL

Have a great day everyone!!

16 comments:

Kimi said...

thanks for revisiting George. I know someone asked recently what happens after offloading...we get to see the behind the scenes of it all! Any word on that question...did the relative come in?

Dani said...

oh the memories, doesnt seem like it was actually that long ago, almost 6 months already!!

Time flies when your havin fun!!

Carlisleboy said...

You were correct Kim!!

Lauri said...

I witnessed the "journey" the crab take from offload to processing in real life...I'd have a real problem with the way they are butchered if crabs were cute...but they aren't, and they are oh, so tasty! Thanks for photos detailing this, CB!

mamawas said...

CB does Dutch handle any of the summer fishing seasons, like herring, cod or salmon?
Donna

jagercrosbyswench said...

That is a cool series of pics, CB! I'm surprised they haven't shown all that on the show at some point. It would make sense, it seems! LOL!
I second the question about Dutch handling the summer fishing. And, if so, what kinds? And will we get coverage by you? LOL!

Carlisleboy said...

If it swims in the ocean there is someone in Dutch that can process it! The plants are getting geared up for the big pollock "B" Season, but Cod, Black Cod, Herring, salmon and some of the crabs will all be harvested over the summer. New York may be the city that never sleeps, but Dutch/Unalaska is the town that never stops working!!
I am planning to take my sister and nephew through them all, so yeah, plenty of pictures.

Kimi said...

whoa. that explains a bit. check email soon.

Margrita said...

CB thanks for revisiting George he was a great story line love the pictures. HEE HEE Discovery should use your George story it is great.

Jax said...

Very cool, thanks for the replay of George..did you really eat him yourself? Too funny!
Yes, I'd also like to hear about what is going on in the Dutch processors over the summer months

Bloviating Zeppelin said...

Ah, the Ballad of George The Crab!

George looks GREAT with lemon!

BZ

AlaskanDave said...

Great post and pictures of the process CB...

Meghan said...

Oh, how I wish that I was able to get Alaska king crab up here in NJ. I can get New England Lobster here easy. I have no trouble with the way that the crab are processed, it mild to how other live stock is processed.

Carlisleboy said...

Can not leave the Comments at 13!!

Meghan said...

Whoops, sorry about that CB. I didn't know you don't like that, but 13 never brother me one bit, because my mother and father where born on the 13th.

Lori said...

Love the post/story of "George" (again). I too wish DC would do a special (or even a part of the show) on this because after all, it is part of the behind the scenes "documentary" that we don't get to see.