Description
Catch and harvest wild crabs using pots and related gear. Set, haul, sort, and store live catch aboard vessels; maintain gear and vessel; navigate to fishing grounds; comply with fishery rules; and deliver harvest to buyers or processors.
- • Rig, bait, set, and reset crab pots along planned strings.
- • Attach floats, lines, weights, and identification buoys to pots per regulations.
- • Travel by vessel to fishing grounds and operate navigation instruments.
- • Compute positions and plot courses; interpret weather, tides, and sea conditions.
- • Deploy pots and mark gear locations; record set times and coordinates.
- • Haul pots using hydraulic pot haulers, blocks, or davits.
- • Release crabs from pots and transfer to totes or live tanks.
- • Sort and grade crabs by species, sex, and condition.
- • Measure crabs with gauges to ensure legal size and compliance.
- • Return undersized, soft-shell, or egg-bearing crabs and bycatch to the water.
- • Hold live crabs in circulating seawater tanks or chilled totes.
- • Maintain and repair pots, doors, escape rings, lines, and buoys.
- • Replace biodegradable panels and ensure required gear markings.
- • Prepare, cut, and load bait; service bait jars or bait bags.
- • Maintain engines, hydraulics, winches, and deck equipment; perform minor repairs.
- • Clean and sanitize decks, holds, totes, and tools.
- • Monitor soak times and relocate gear based on catch rates, currents, and bottom type.
- • Use depth sounders, charts, and GPS to locate productive crab habitat.
- • Communicate and coordinate deck operations; direct and train crew as needed.
- • Load and unload pots, bait, and supplies by hand or with cranes.
- • Stack and secure pots on deck to maintain vessel stability.
- • Keep logbooks of catch and effort; submit required reports and observer data.
- • Comply with seasons, quotas, area closures, size, sex, and gear limits.
- • Transport catch to tenders, docks, or processing plants.
- • Oversee purchasing of bait, fuel, gear, and provisions.
- • Conduct safety checks and emergency drills; maintain life-saving equipment.
- • Dispose of offal and waste according to regulations; minimize gear loss.
- • Retrieve lost gear when feasible and participate in derelict gear programs.
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Agriculture
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This site includes information from O*NET by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. Career Clutch has modified some of this information for student readability. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Last reviewed: Jan 2026
