Often regarded as one of the oldest and most honorable of all professions, commercial fishing in recent years frequently has found itself at the center of controversies. The latter have ranged from fishing wars (over territory) to accusations of over fishing and disputes over management of catches to environmentally destructive use of drift nets ("walls of death") entangling large numbers of non targeted fish. On a more positive note, these problems have focused attention on the importance of commercial fishing to regional and national economies and thereby provided support for the individuals and organizations involved.
This occupation has imprinted its mark on the North American landscape from the enchanting fishing villages of the Canadian Mari times and New England, to the ship jacks on the Chesapeake Bay, to the large tuna ships docked in the San Diego harbor. The state of Oregon alone licenses more than six thousand people to fish commercially!
Fishing has long been a family business in which the trade and its secrets are handed down from parent to child. Entrance to these jobs on small commercial fishing boats is difficult, but it is sometimes possible to sign aboard, expand your knowledge, and perhaps purchase your own boat or fleet.
Michael lives in Ocean View, New Jersey, not far from the Atlantic Ocean. Upon graduation from Upper Merion High School in Pennsylvania, he moved to the South Jersey shore to pursue his career in commercial fishing. He had begun as a mate on a party boat during high school summers. Mike's first full-time job was as a crew member on an offshore tile and swordfish boat. This included weeklong trips to the Hudson Canyon, some ninety miles off shore. After two years, Mike looked for inshore work. He acted as a crew member on a lobster boat, also fishing for sea bass for one season. For a couple of years, Mike captained a gill-net boat, fishing for bluefish, shad, and weakfish.
Finally, Mike purchased his own gill-net boat, the Andrea-M, a forty-two-foot Virginia-style work boat Mike will operate out of Sea Isle City, New Jersey. Trading as the A & M Fish Company, Mike will wholesale fish to the Fulton Fish Market in New York City, where brokers will distribute it nationwide.
When asked what an average day is like, Mike replied, "long." It begins at 4:00 A.M. with coffee and the weather report. If all is as it should be, the boat is iced up for the catch and starts down the creek in the dark, with the help of radar. By daybreak, Mike and one other crew member reach the fishing grounds about six miles away, with color scope on and gill net ready for searching for fish. Mike reads the color scope, where fish appear on the screen in different shapes and colors. A buoy is thrown and circled by twenty-five hundred feet of net; then the boat is driven into the center and the fish swim into the net (thus, the name gill net). Hydraulics hauls the net back into the boat. The catch is handpicked and put into holding tanks of saltwater and ice to keep it fresh and firm. Occasionally the catch is cleaned and gutted on the trip home to bring a higher price. At the dock, the fish are packed into cartons with ice and loaded on trucks bound for New York. Hopefully, the crew is home in time for dinner.
Salaries in the commercial fishing industry are dependent upon the type of fishing you do. Offshore fishing includes draggers, long-liners, and scallopers. A deckhand on any one of these boats makes an average of $50,000 a year. They work weeklong trips with little break in between almost twelve months a year. Those on factory ships--ones that both catch and process fish--will stay at sea until they catch their limit (all their ship can hold).
Clammers, gillnetters, and lobsters make up the inshore fishermen. These people make daylong trips, dawn to dusk, nine months of the year on the East Coast, usually March through December. A crew member on an inshore boat makes approximately $15,000 to $20,000 per year. All commercial fishermen are paid a percentage of their catch. They are paid on a scale, the highest percentage to the owner, the next to the captain, first-mate, and on down. Offshore fishing is rated one of the most dangerous occupations; inshore fishing is considered safer.
Mike loves fishing for a lot of reasons; it's one occupation where the harder you work, the more you can make. A hard worker can make a good living, and as the owner of the boat, you can really push for success. "As an outdoor person, life on the ocean is really being away from the crowd." Mike can't see himself doing anything but fishing. When asked if he would recommend fishing to others he said, "If you love to fish and you're a hard worker, you can't beat it."
There is currently a strong movement among marine economists to help fishermen become good business managers as well as good fishermen. In the words of D. R. Hetchell, editor of The National Fisherman: "Unfortunately not every fisherman has the business training needed to operate independently in this modern world." Marine economists conduct workshops for fishermen, providing them with business knowledge and skills. Those considering a commercial fishing career should take business courses in high school or a community college.
Recently fishing has become more a science than an art. Boats use technical equipment to locate schools of fish. Fishermen know far more than their ancestors did about fish behavior, and catching strategies have improved. Much of this technological innovation is a result of a whole new breed of professionals known as fisheries scientists. Though not fishermen, these individuals contribute to the welfare of the industry.
JOB OUTLOOK
The employment outlook in fishing ranges from good to excellent, but it is sporadic. State and government positions will probably expand slowly, but qualified personnel are in short supply. The ranks of sports fishermen are expected to expand greatly; in the year 2000 an estimated sixty-three million anglers fished 1.3 billion days! This will obviously put a great strain on government fisheries agents and will require considerable expansion of their activities. Additional growth will occur in private industry, as we look to the sea to satisfy the nutritional requirements of the world's population. Off the East Coast alone it is estimated that there are twenty million tons of annual sustainable yield; about five million tons are presently taken.
The crafts and professions related to fishing offer a wide variety of career opportunities. If you enjoy life in coastal areas or on our inland freshwater systems and have an interest in fish, this career area deserves your serious consideration. One note of caution: Fishing careers are often demanding, requiring rigorous work under difficult conditions and in isolated locations. You may want to test your interest by visiting a hatchery or a marine science coastal laboratory, or try some involvement activities through the Boy Scouts or Girls Scouts or summer jobs.
See the following articles for more information:
- Find Your Calling: A Checklist
- 5 Ways To Build Your Career Outside of the Office
- How To Impress Your Interviewer When Making a Career Change
- 5 Tips For Successful Networking
