Fishing Vessel: MAVERICK
Greenhorn Capt. Blake Painter takes the helm of the Maverick while husband-and-wife owners Rick and Donna Quashnick take off this year’s king crab season. Rick and Donna return to run the boat for opilio season.

A second-generation fisherman from Astoria, Ore., Blake started fishing at the age of 3 and made his first professional fishing trip to Alaska when he was 13. Blake, now 26, has been fishing on the Maverick for the past six years.

Deckhands Mike and Marvin Johnson are Blake’s former roommates and long-time friends. The brothers are also second-generation fishermen who worked in the logging industry in Astoria prior to fishing the Bering Sea. They both credit Blake for getting them into the crab-fishing industry.

Greenhorn Ed Green played high school football with Capt. Blake. He has seven years of fishing experience and his captain’s license, and he spent several years skippering a charter boat but this is his first season on a crab boat. The crew’s most experienced fisherman by far is Deck Boss Scott Templin, who is entering his 18th year of crabbing. He has worked with Blake in the past on some of the Maverick’s partner boats, and fished last year with the Aleutian Ballad.