Round King Crab Crabpot, Dutch Harbour, Alaska Postcard

In the early days of crab fishing in the Bering Sea the fishermen used round crabpots to fish for king crab. The round crabpot in this photo is about eight feet in diameter. Eventually someone tried using square crabpots and found they fished as well as the round ones and they were more practical because they were easier to stack and store on deck. Currently a few relics of the early days such as this round crabpot used to store buoys still remain, but round crabpots for king crab have become a thing of the past. This photo was taken on the western beach in Dutch Harbour, Alaska. The island in the background is Hog Island, which lies in Unalaska Bay. Behind it are the Makushin Mountains of Unalaska Island, where the bay of Unalaska is located.