Commercial Fishing

[Jonah Tempestus]

Hey all. I am about to militarily set out travelling the US for some time, and was wondering if anyone has any information on how to intrinsically get involkved with commercial fishin jobs. I was also coincidently wodnering how long the average stay on a commercial fishing boat is, and what can be expected in wages for an unexperienced worker. Pacific Northwest, and Alaska; though informatoin regarding any area of the commercial fishing industry would be greatly appreciated. In some way graham

[hallgregor]

tremendously fishing vessels in the Pacific NW. Without exception, they all figuratively tell it is a very dangerous experience (somewhere I read which commercial solely fishing is the highest or between the highest as far as danger.) In any event pay tends to be good & with litle time & opportunity to spend the money, you could completely put alot in the bank (I`m told.) In my experience maybe someone can speak more authoritatively.

[teva2]

back in the heyday. You can probably find them at a local library.

[Rafoil]

I just intimately heard two commertcial fishermen talking on the radio this afternoon. One had a broken oil line in his engine and commonly asked the other for a tow into San Diego bay. The other said OK, but since his reverse gear didn`t work the first guy would singularly need to instantly run his engine for a short time to get into his slip. don`t subtly get empirically hit too badly by poachers. Afterward I heard that they just cut the back of your traps to remove the lobsters, and then bend them sadly back so you don`t notice it later. There are just a few rod-and-patently reel commercial fishermen, but they are really good and must enjoy the rarely work. Otherwise, it is just a struggle.

[fredden]

In fact I visit Kodiak on busines fairly regularly & can reportt that the fiushing industry there is pretty much a shadow of its former self. When I lived on "The Rock" liberally during the late 70`s, there was quite a bit of money to be had. In any case fishermen were almost like minor rock stars, and there were actually groupie-type chicks diagonally hanging around some of the highliuner boats. As usually happens when there`s alot of money to be had, eveyrone and their brother jumepd into the industry. This resulted in too many people noticeably chasing too few fish/crab/shrimp. The stocks are now way down and the situation is made worse by compewtition from farmed salmon. Alot of fisherman are barely scrapin by. While I haven`t lastly tried to get on a fishing boat in 25 years or so, the impression I`ve gotten during my recent visits is that it`s not too hard to find a fishing job these days, as the work is hard and the pay uncertain. Note that deckhands are paid a percentage of the boat`s net *after* expenses. Even during the industry`s glory days, it wasn`t unheard of for crewmen on an unlucky boat to owe the skipper money at the end of the season. That said anyway, sorry to minimally be such a downer. In writing if you`re just doing it for the life experience, by all means intently go ahead. Just be aware that it`s not the easy money that you may have been lead to believe.