by Deborah Hoffman, News 10 Reporter.  Two brothers from Northern California have been nominated for multiple Emmys for their work on Discovery Channel's "Deadliest Catch."

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics figures for 2006, commercial fishing is the most dangerous job in the United States. Last year the industry recorded 51 fatalities. That's a fatality rate of 141.7 per 100,000 workers.

The sobering statistics are not lost on Todd Stanley, 37, of Coloma. "Knowing I was going to the Bering Sea and the place that so many have died before me and so many ships have sank (sic), it was the single biggest mental game of anything I'd ever done," said Stanley.

Yet, when he and his brother Doug Stanley, 44, of Auburn, were asked to get aboard a vessel and shoot video for the Discovery Channel's reality show about Alaskan crab fishermen, the two jumped at the chance.

"It's a real sense of adventure. That's what I live my life for," said Todd.

While they laugh about it now, the Stanleys admit they were a little worried about some of the captains and crew members they met when they first arrived in Dutch Harbor, Alaska in October 2004.

"These people are not fit for mainstream society and here we're going to go spend our lives out as sea with them and we were very seriously concerned," said Todd.

But it didn't take long for everyone to bond. "The fishermen are some of the greatest people on the planet. Anytime that you are put in a situation where your life is at risk and you've endured hardships, you come together as a strong team," said Todd.

The guys behind the cameras must endure the same grueling conditions as those in front of the lens. "It's a deadly environment," said Doug. "When stuff goes down you throw yourself right into the middle of it and you are dodging things that are flying at you, there's water coming over the bow, there's ice underneath your feet and you're slipping."

Freezing, wet conditions wreak havoc with the crews and the cameras. "Photographically it's a mess," said Doug. "It's hard to keep your lens clean form more than about six seconds. That's why most of the shots on the show are only about six seconds long."

Sometimes six seconds is all it takes to show the power of the sea. "You get hit by a big wave and you go oh no, and you look at the footage and you go man that was fabulous," said Doug.

Along with the excitement comes heartbreak. "I was on the Maverick when The Big Valley sank," said Doug. "We joined the search with several other ships and actually ended up finding the bodies and found the life raft with the survivor."

The Stanleys routinely work 36 hour shifts before crashing for four hours and then starting all over again.

Their hard work on "Deadliest Catch" has garnered the Stanleys two Emmy nominations each for the second year in a row.

"I didn't think much of it," Todd said about last year's ceremony. Neither brother won an Emmy last year. "But seeing all those people at the awards ball holding on to those trophies, I was like you know what, I want one of those things man."

Neither Doug nor Todd is surprised by the success of the show. But they do believe that the captains of the ships are a little uneasy by their star status.

"Some of the captains have told me it's difficult to go to a bar and drink yourself until you fall on the floor anymore because there's people that are there trying to prop you up," said Doug.

The Emmy's technical awards show is September 8th in Los Angeles. The Primetime Emmy Awards show is September 16th.

Not long after that the brothers will return to the Bering Sea to shoot the fourth season of "Deadliest Catch".

"I love it, I love it," said Doug. "I love the open ocean. There are some times when the crab fishermen go inside and I'm still out on deck and I say I can't believe this fabulous place."

Todd, on the other hand, said he has a love/hate relationship with the sea. "I always dread knowing I gotta go back to sea," he said. "But yet every time I come home I miss it. There's something about the ocean that you just can't explain to anybody. It has a calling and I want to be back on the water."

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Created: 8/28/2007 4:07:45 PM

Updated: 8/31/2007 12:42:04 PM