Chronicles of a Bering Sea Captain

Chronicles of a Bering Sea Captain offers a vivid, detailed glimpse of some of most dangerous fisheries in the world. From frightening to funny, these stories convey the realities of the life of a fisherman struggling to make a living in the Bering Sea.

This cold corner of the planet has claimed the lives of countless men and women, brave souls who risked everything to chase a dream, pursue adventure, and earn an honest buck. Most aim to make as much money as they can in as short a time as possible—then get out.

But for author Jake Jacobsen, the fisherman’s life was in his blood. He sailed on his father’s old wooden trawler at seven—and found his first full-time fishing job as a fourteen-year-old deckhand on his father’s boat.

Chronicles of a Bering Sea Captain recounts half a century of life on the high seas. These are one man’s stories of crab fishing, trawling, and long-lining in rough, unpredictable waters. But more importantly, these tales offer a glimpse into the lives of the untold thousands whose harrowing tales and countless acts of courage and strength will never be heard.

Captain Jake Jacobsen started sailing at seven, accompanying his father on his fishing boat. At fifteen, he worked on the largest factory trawler in the United States. At seventeen, he found a job fishing crab in the Bering Sea. The next year, he was an engineer, and a few years later, a captain.

During five decades in the fishing industry, he has captained boats in all of the major Bering Sea fisheries and some of the West Coast fisheries. His experience includes trawling, crab fishing, long-lining, fish tendering, running a tugboat, participating in research charters, and working as a price negotiator.

He currently works as a marine surveyor and as executive director of the largest cooperative of Bering Sea crab fishermen. Additionally, he is a member of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute's Shellfish Committee, and he served for almost a decade on a federal advisory committee for fishing vessel safety.