FV Big Valley

The "Big Valley" was a 92 foot (28 meters) crabber boat. The vessel capsized and sank Saturday January 15, 2005 in the Bering Sea in an area 70 miles west of Saint Paul Island, Alaska. Only one member of the crew survived: Cache Seel. Skipper Gary Edwards, 46, of Kodiak, Alaska, Danny Vermeersch, 33 of Belgium, Josias Luna, 48, of Anchorage, Alaska, Aaron Marrs, 27, of Louisville, Kentucky, and Carlos Rivera, 35, of Uruguay perished.

The Coast Guard had limited the Big Valley, one of the smallest boats that participated in the snow crab fishery, to carrying 31 crab pots. It left Dutch Harbor for its final trip with 55 pots and 183,000 pounds of bait, more than three times the amount allowed, according to the Coast Guard investigation. [cite web
url=http://www.markels.com/U.S.%20News%20-%20Fishing%20is%20one%20of%20America's%20Most%20Dangerous%20Jobs%20(5-23-05).htm
title=USNews.com: Fishing is one of America's most perilous jobs. Can anything be done to make it safer? (5/23/05)
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That extra weight contributed to its fate, the investigation found.

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