Photos

Robert shrink wrapping a load for points distant. 

Robert on the forks putting another load of crab and lobster onto our distributor's truck.
This shipment is headed for up island and the lower mainland.

 Hi-Gear hiding amongst the tuna boats, June, 2011

They are very rare. I may have seen one or two in 24 years of fishing.
This albino crab was delivered to us by a fisherman who caught it in Juan de Fuca Strait. 

Tim and Michael receiving West Coast Dungeness
crab. Crabs are graded for hardness of carapace, size and leg loss.

Michael and Tim at work receiving a delivery of Vancouver Island
Dungeness under the watchful eye of Matt the crab fisherman. There is often
good natured debate between receivers and fishermen as to what what
constitutes an acceptable crab. Final decisions are frequently left to the
"Russian judge", a fictitious but utterly fair third party arbiter.

Tim grading his eleven millionth crab, give or take

Michael making the crabs fly. Note the use of gloves. The younger
generation is a bit soft. At least he is standing up for a change...

This is the boat that built the business. Hi-Gear is a 35`foot aluminum
displacement Vessel. Although she no longer actively fishes crabs she is federally and
provincially licensed and serves as our floating dock sales platform at
Fisherman`s Wharf in Victoria.

Ready for work...

The interior of our new refrigerated delivery vehicle. All surfaces are
food grade. The vehicle is licensed provincially with a fish buying station
license. The refrigeration unit is essential in the warmer months as we like
to keep our animals at 5 degrees C.

This is our small, portable tank. It can keep 250 lbs live for extended
periods. This unit can be picked up with a forklift, placed on a truck and
used in trade shows, retail situations or for picking up live products from
up island.

This how a Dungeness crab looks when he is smiling...

The flip side. This is a male crab. Only male crabs >165mm in carapace
width are allowed to be harvested. You can tell the difference by the
V-shaped flap in the center of the crab. A female's flap is shaped like a
beehive and supports the eggs during spawning.

Here we have some Dungeness waiting to be shipped in our food grade
containers. Those with a keen eye will notice that these are in fact culls.
If you look closely you will notice that they are missing a claw. An
economical way to treat yourself to the best.