Start of Interview with two captains from
the TV series, "The Deadliest Catch"...

Jim:     Captain Sig Hansen and Captain Keith Colburn, welcome to Mad Money...   Alright, you are starting the new season… it is obvious that this is the, and I have been on other than Mr. Trump whose reality show is real. That we all know that reality shows for the most part are staged. When I watch your show I don’t get the sense that there is a lot of staging, am I right that this is a little different from the usual reality show?

Hansen:    Well, it was started as a documentary, and that is what it is.

Jim:     So people get hurt, people things actually happen. Not everything is good.

Colburn:    There is too much going on to even remember that the cameras are even there. We are trying to fish.

Jim:     Absolutely, now, Sig, we have loved the stock of Darden. And the reason that we love it is is because Red Lobster has been unbelievably good, it has actually been on fire since the year began. Olive Garden doing well too. And the reason is, is that it is an inexpensive place to eat particularly for delicacies like what you catch. A half pound of King Crab is $9.99. How is that possible given what you guys do?

Hansen:    Well, that is a bargain to begin with right there.

Colburn:    It is a misconception. Everybody thinks that white table cloth, premium. Crab is out of reach. But in reality Red Lobster makes it within reach. And it is because of the prices paid we get at the dock. I mean, we are getting paid good money, we would like to get more eventually.

Hansen:    Well, if they eat more crab.

Jim:     Okay, now when I also look at bulk 5 pounds is $159. And I am starting to think, is it possible that you could go a whole season without making any money?

Colburn:    Yeah.

Hansen:    For us, of course. I have gone two months and we went $3000 in the hole. For each crew member.

Jim:     In the clip that we ran, yours is $400,000 per. What, if you go to Red Lobster and you say listen guys this is a tough year for me, I want a better price. What happens?

Colburn:     (Laughing) They say oh yeah Keith, we are going to help you out on this one. Well, actually we are selling directly to the processors in Dutch Harbor and then it is moving thru to the Red Lobster’s of the world. We are not in direct sales. We are just fisherman.

Jim:     But one of the things that I have found is that it is cheaper this year than last year. How can that be? Is it just a more bountiful harvest for you guys?

Colburn:    We are really, really lucky. What happened was, was in the fall when the stock market just completely exploded, a lot of the crab for King Crab had been pre sold.

Hansen:    The deal was done.

Colburn:    So we were saved there. Plus the yen was phenomenally strong last fall.

Jim:     So a lot of your stuff goes to Japan.

Hansen:    Yeah, so they are the ones that drive that market. But I mean we want to see the domestic market strong as well, and that is where Darden comes in.

Jim:     How can you hedge? I mean Darden says that they are hedged on half their crab. What kind market do you have?

Colburn:    Well, I don’t know.

Jim:     Somebody is betting against you if you are hedged for half. They bet that you are not having a good season?

Colburn:    Our snow crab, basically what it is, is that we have a competitor. Our competitor is Canada. And Canada has twice to three times the amount of products that we have. So they are the big dog on the block. But we are the first crab to market, so we have an advantage there.

Jim:     But it is an expensive thing to eat. So in a downturn, do you expect to sell less? Or settle for a lower price?

Hansen:    I think we would have to sell less.

Colburn:    That is a tough question. I mean this year we are seeing it. We have seen a 25%, maybe close to 28% reduction in our price for snow crab this year. And who knows what is going to be in the fall.

Hansen:    And if Japan doesn’t step in for next year, then we have got no leverage, so.

Jim:     What is the economics of the show. Discovery happens to be one of the few cable, well cable is doing much better than broadcast, and Discovery happens to be very, very successful. Do they pay you to do the show? Or are they just along for the ride? And it is good publicity for you guys.

Hansen:    They have been throwing a couple of bucks at us.

Jim:     Do you own the show?

Hansen:    I wish.

Jim:     Do you guys play at all? Do you play the stock market? And you want a little diversification? You are out for like 30 hours a day, you don’t watch CNBC when you are out there, right?

Colburn:    No, we are not. And that is the thing. I mean as fisherman basically we reinvest in our own business. We are investing in ourselves. The fisheries are cyclical.

Jim:     One last question, on a downturn do you guys make say dramatically less than you would have in another time?

Hansen:    Oh, absolutely.

Jim:     You are in the front lines of the economy, in the sense that you are the ultimate discretionary thing to eat?

Colburn:    Yeah, we are a commodity. We are a food product...

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Jim's comments AFTER the interview:     Listen, you can catch Captain Sig Hansen and Captain Keith Colburn and the rest of the cast of the “Deadliest Catch” when season 5 premiers Tuesday April 14th, at 9 pm Eastern on the Discovery Channel.