Crocodiles and sharks are just everyday work hazards for Josh Taylor and the other fishermen who battle some of the harshest conditions in Australia to catch one of the nation's most prized seafoods — mud crabs.
Many live in makeshift wooden huts, with no creature comforts, amongst mosquito-infested mangrove swamps in the estuaries around the Gulf of Carpentaria.
It may be no surprise then that Mr Taylor is one of just 49 fishers who hold mud crabbing licences in the Northern Territory, and one of just six who drop their pots in the remote King Ash Bay.
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Mr Taylor says he's not too worried about the hazards that lurk beneath his boat, but he knows how quickly things can go wrong.
"One day I was running one of the old boats, dropping crab pots along the way, and one of the crab pot ropes tangled around my leg," he said.
"I was travelling 30 to 40 kilometres an hour … and the rope almost pulled me into the water."
At full stretch he was able to reach the motor and turn it off, saving himself from falling overboard at the last minute.
"I had no hairs left on my leg and my pelvis was sore for days. I couldn't walk," he said.
"We've had a few encounters with some crocodiles just lurking on the side of the boat but nothing ever actually jumped in trying to capsize it … but they are there."
With the nearest help a 30-minute boat ride away, he is fortunate he wasn't more seriously injured.
Despite the hazards, Mr Taylor, who became a commercial mud crabber four years ago, says he enjoys heading out in his boat, catching fish to eat for dinner, and returning to the simple shack he shares with two other fishermen at King Ash Bay.
Why crabbing is a gamble
King Ash Bay sits where the McArthur River meets the Gulf of Carpentaria, about 700 kilometres south-east of Katherine.
Under the water, in the mangrove channels near the town where the river meets the ocean, mud crabs dig holes to live in.
They are highly prized and sell to seafood restaurants and retailers across Australia and overseas for between $70 and $100 dollars per kilo.
As each license holder is entitled to use up to 60 pots — which can catch up to 10 crabs each — it can be a lucrative business.
But not always.
Most of the crabs are caught on the incoming tide during the dry season from May to October.
But the crabbing season this year has been a real gamble for those trying to make a living from the industry, Mr Taylor said.
"I'm roughly getting one or two [per pot], but then there are alsoblanks," he said.
Fellow commercial mud crabber Ash Garner says this year's catch numbershave fallen 25 per centfrom last year due to flooding caused by Tropical Cyclones Lincoln and Meghan, which hit the Borroloola coast in quick succession.
The flooding caused the McArthur River to rise to a record 15.06 metres at Borroloola, with sand, rock and soil debris flooding the mangrove channels around the bay — forcing the crabs to live elsewhere.
"The river came up quite quickly, and dumped millions oftonsof sand down on the mudflats and down the riverbeds where the mud crabs normally live," Mr Garner said.
Mr Taylor said he and the other fishers in King Ash Bay were now "hunting around, trying to find out where they are".
Crabbing is 'really lonely'
Mud crabber You Meng Ong, who arrived in Australia 35 years ago from Cambodia and relies on the industry to support his family, said living off the low catches this season was more challenging due to the increasing cost of licenses.
"This year I've made no money, my work only pays for the licence, for the new catch bag and for the fuel," he said.
"If you're lucky, you have a little bit [of money] to support your family, but sometimes you cannot make money, you just lose."
Mr Ong said his lack of English led him to life as a mud crabber because he was unable to find work in any towns.
"When you're the only crabber it's really lonely," he said.
"Sometimes rain, sometimes mosquito, sandfly, then you work hard to get the crab and you get nothing.
"But I'm stuck here because my English was never good, that's why no one ever needed me when I [tried to find work]."
'I just like crabs'
Mr Taylor's journey into the mangrove swamps started four years ago when he made a permanent move from Queensland to the Northern territory.
"I just like crabs, even when I was really young when I was growing up, we had a lot of estuaries, and I was always down there throwing crab pots in," he said.
After working as a concreter and farmer, he jumped at the chance to holiday in King Ash Bay, where he helped out on a mud crabbing boat.
"I met the boys here, who were mud crabbing, and I met a fellow who I helped out on a boat for a week … and then learned the ropes," he said.
"He eventually asked me if I wanted to come back and run his crabbing business.
"So, I went home, loaded up my swag and my dogs and moved up to the NT."
He understands Mr Ong's sense of isolation.
As he spends most of the year in his shack or on his houseboat, he concedes, it is hard to find a partner.
"That's the hardest part about living in the mangroves — if someone wants to be dedicated to stay with you, they’ve got to be a strong person to live out in the bush and be with you for 9 months or so," he said.
"I'm 33 years old, I need to start a family and find a girlfriend, I don’t want to be single my whole life.
"Just having a bit of companionship would be nice."
'No one can annoy you'
William Jacobson is only 15, and although he's new to the industry, he sees a future for himself in mud crabbing at King Ash Bay.
Life in Darwin didn't hold much promise for William, so when his father suggested he explore a different lifestyle working on a crabbing boat, he jumped at the chance.
"I came up here and worked for six months and then I worked for another crabber and stayed with him for a year and half," William said.
"Now I'm thinking of becoming a professional crabber.
"I like going out there on the boat and staying out there … where no one can annoy you or anything.
"The only thing I find difficult at the moment is tying the crabs tight enough but I’m slowly getting there."
Career pivot pays off
Unlike Mr Taylor and William, Ash Garner didn't exactly drift into mud crabbing — he diversified into it.
Mr Garner has been living in King Ash Bay since 2007, and he and his partner own King Ash Bay Lodge, but they had to change career during the pandemic when the tourism industry collapsed.
"We were already running up trucks to Darwin, so I had a relationship with the mud crabbing agents [there]," he said.
"Then I just hit up some of the guys to see if they had a spare crabbing license so I could get some work."
It suited him well.
"I've always been into fishing, even as a kid," he said.
"When I finished school and came back to Borroloola, I got my qualifications in Darwin and built a charter fishing boat.
"Then the mud crabbing went well, so I started investing in it more and kept on going."
Although it's been a tough season, Mr Garner said he was hopeful the next one would be more productive.
“If you had several seasons like this in a row it would be quite concerning, but since last year was a good season we’re still OK,” he said.
"Hopefully if we have a good wet this year, we can pick up again and then we will be able to recover."
