- Phillip

Deadliest Catch

         The Exxon Valdez oil spill was the worst oil spill in U.S. history. The spill happened off the coast of Prince William Sound and killed thousands of animals. Collin MaCarty, was on a boat, salmon fishing, when the Exxon Valdez hit the reef and began leaking oil.
         “I was on the Seahorse and we were tendering salmon in Prince William Sound when the spill happened. We never went close to where the spill happened because there was no fishing there, all we could do was see globs of oil and we could smell it,” Collin said. He did not always plan on being a fisherman.  He started off wanting to be a teacher, but became a fisherman instead. “I am a volunteer at the Pratt museum, a teacher by training and a fisherman by occupation. When I became a teacher they asked me to name three reasons why I wanted to become a teacher and I said June, July, and August. They said that I had a bad attitude and would never make it as a teacher.” Collin wondered what he could do for work. “Then I said, I can work as a teacher for nine months, or I can fish for three, June, July, and August make more money, and not have to teach anymore.” So Collin became a fisherman, trading in the safe schoolhouse for the unreliable Alaskan waters.
         Collin was a fisherman for twenty- three years. “ I started fishing in 1975 and I quit fishing in 1998. I fished year round. I fished crab in the winter, then I switched to salmon in the summer time, and herring in the spring time,” Collin said. Collin has not only fished in harsh weather, but he has also fished in some of the most treacherous waters too. “I fished for king crab in the Berring Sea, herring in the Berring Sea, herring in Prince William Sound, herring in the Gulf of Alaska, salmon in the Berring Sea, and salmon in the Pacific Ocean,” Collin said. The winters in Alaska can be very dark and cold, making for a dreary time, but the men try to make the most of their time at sea. “It was fun in the winter time, although it was cold, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was very exciting and we made lots of money bringing in the fish and crabs. I also fished on the best boat there was, the Time Bandit,” Collin said. The Time Bandit is on the show ‘The Deadliest Catch’ on the Discovery Channel. “I watch my friends a lot on the show, I mean, I’ve known Jonathon, the captain, for many years. I even got married on the Time Bandit,” he said.
         The Exxon Valdez leaked 11,000,000 gallons of oil into the sound. Collin was fishing in a small part of Prince William Sound called Woodier at this time. He never really got to see the aftermath of the spill, but his friends did. “I did not do any of the cleanup, I was fishing the whole time they were cleaning it up. A lot of my friends did help, and they were paid a great deal of money, but I decided that I did not want any of their money,” Collin said.
         Collins ship has been over the reef that the Exxon Valdez hit, with only ten feet of clearance. He knows the waters pretty well, and feels that the captain of the Exxon Valdez should have known better than to direct his boat that way. “Our boat was twelve feet into the water, and we still had ten feet of clearance. That means that the reef was twenty-two feet into the water, the Exxon Valdez was fifty-two feet into the water, meaning they needed thirty more feet of water to clear the reef. They were dead on the reef,” Collin said.
         Collin has stopped fishing, and he is now dedicating the majority of his time as a volunteer at the Pratt Museum. His son went out to fish on the sister ship of the Time Bandit, and came back after one month and had decided not to be a fisherman like his dad. Hey, what can you do, maybe he’ll become a teacher.