Alaska Fishing Experience?

May 12, 2006 1:05 AM

Can anyone share their experiences of working in the Alaskan fishing industry (commercial not sport), either harvesting or processing? Did you have a blast or wish you were dead? Make loads of cash or left with nothing?

I'm selling everything and moving to Alaska in June to look for salmon-season work and a new life. I'd like to get on as a deckhand / crewmember on a smaller boat like a purse seiner or gillnetter but will work on the processing end if money gets tight. I'm hoping to relocate there if things go well.

posted by visit beautiful mount weather! to work & money (21 comments total)

my high school bf did it. he made a lot of money for someone without a degree. he said that living conditions were harsh though. this was 1998 but there was no internet, no phones. he slept in tent too. he saw people get hurt badly but said it was usually as result of dumb or careless behavior.
posted by k8t at 1:14 AM on May 12, 2006

k8t - do you know where in Alaska he was working? On a boat on doing processing onshore?
posted by visit beautiful mount weather! at 1:21 AM on May 12, 2006

It was a while back but I think it was called Stewart or Seward?

He did both on shore and on boat processing two different summers.
posted by k8t at 2:01 AM on May 12, 2006

On the boat, fishing: it's very hard, fairly dangerous work. In many ways it's a crap shoot - a good season can make you great money, a bad season can leave you with just your plane fare home.

It's Seward, btw.
posted by Dunwitty at 2:28 AM on May 12, 2006

It's a pretty dangerous and grueling job. I think working the Halibut and crab boats rated as the most dangerous job you can have in any industry. See here and here
posted by zaelic at 3:00 AM on May 12, 2006

Discovery Channel had a miniseries last year called Deadliest Catch that followed a few boats during their crab hauling trips. (I'd imagine salmon season would be a little different but the basics would be the same.) Season 2 just started a week or two ago.
posted by Lucinda at 5:44 AM on May 12, 2006

In one of the recent episodes of "Deadliest Catch," one of the greenhorns was having such a grueling time that he threatened to jump overboard. They had to return to shore, and the although the captain empathized with the guy, he didn't seem too happy about having to return to shore.

In last season's episodes, one of the boats sank and the all the crewmembers died except for one.

It doesn't seem to be a profession for the faint of heart, based on what they show on the series.
posted by cass at 6:13 AM on May 12, 2006

My friend Todd was on a commercial fishing boat in the Aleutian Islands about a decade ago and wrote a feature article about it that you might find interesting: Sweatshop Memoirs (or, how I wrecked the planet for $6 an hour). He does a pretty good summary of what day to day life is like on a factory processor.

During my contract with the fishing company, I worked sixteen hours per day for seventy-three consecutive days and made seventy-two hundred dollars. Seventy-three days multiplied by sixteen hours per day equals 1168 hours. Divide $7200 by 1168 hours and I discover that I earned $6.16 per hour.

posted by jessamyn at 6:14 AM on May 12, 2006

You should read Danielle Henderson's Tales From Fish Camp. It's exactly as unpleasant as you've heard, with the possible exception of your coworkers.
posted by beaucoupkevin at 6:21 AM on May 12, 2006

I worked about 3 years as a commercial Dungeoness crabber, the final year running a boat on my own. And I did a little salmon tendering too. I fished from Cross Sound to Yucatat and Glacier Bay/Inside Passage. Shows like Deadlist Catch romanticize just how difficult of a job commercial fishing is. That said, it was the best job I've ever had and I wish I could do it again all the time. The money is very good in good seasons, but not so good for greenhorns.

As a greenhorn, you'll go back in forth between sheer exhilaration, sheer exhaustion, wishing you were dead or back home, and fearing for your life. As a crabber, 18 hour days, 5-6 days a week was the norm. It is the hardest work imaginable. Salmon trollers often have the same schedule, seiners have derby opening and may go 24 hours or more and then have a few days off.

Experienced crew will be hard on you, because one mistake could easily get someone maimed, killed, or waste really expensive hours. In general, your crewmates are likely to be great guys except being smelly, hairy, sexually frustrated, and aggressive personalities. While working, fisherman don't ask nicely, they yell loudly.

Each salmon fishery is very different. I wouldn't have trolled for pink salmon for anything. Too much work for the money as a greenhorn. But slinging humpies, singing work songs - some folks really love it.

The biggest difference between the fleets is where your fishing grounds are. Fishing on the Pacific is hard, really brutally hard. Isolated, intense, mind-numbing hard work. Fishing in protected waters like the Inside Passage is relatively serene.

You might want to watch "The Perfect Storm". I was in a storm that had us wondering about tomorrow, and the movie does a pretty good job of capturing the feeling. I especially liked how even when it is hopeless, the work goes on. That's the truth. I'd also recommend the book Highliners, which is quite a good story.

So I guess my point is that commercial fishing is hard work, both mentally and physically. Many young guys show up and can't hack it. But for those that can, it is an experience that money can not buy.

Good luck. Watch your feet.
posted by McGuillicuddy at 6:28 AM on May 12, 2006 [3 favorites]

One more note: Captains may fire you for being less than enthusiastic. A little grumbling about a wake-up call after 2 hours of sleep, all-night watch duty, or having to cook a meal after an 18 hour day will probably slide by, if infrequent, but nobody wants a complainer aboard.

I saw a greenhorn fired (one of many I fired or saw fired) and left at a port in the middle of nowhere because every word out of his mouth was about his wife and newborn baby. That's natural, like I said you'll think about home all the time. But everyone on board will be missing folks and nobody wants to hear your tale of woe over their own.
posted by McGuillicuddy at 6:43 AM on May 12, 2006

Commercial fishing is one of the most dangerous jobs in America, as measured by fatalities, and something like 90 percent of the money goes to the most successful 10 percent of fishing crews.
posted by croutonsupafreak at 7:06 AM on May 12, 2006

I lived in the Aleutian Islands (Dutch Harbor) for a while, not in the fishing industry, but I did live in the processing plant housing. It looked pretty awful. All of my dorm-mates seemed unhappy and overworked. I did not get a chance to talk to them much, but I did meet a lot of the boat crews.
I think the craziness of your lifestyle and your general happiness depend on what you are fishing for. The pollack guys have a long season and seemed to be under less instense pressure and had more regular schedules and time off than many of the other crews. The crabbers were the most insane. When the crabbers came back onshore, many ladies like myself would avoid the bars. They often worked 3-5 weeks on, 2 weeks off, but on meant ON. Like 19 hour shifts or longer, and injuries don't really matter when you only have a few days left and a weight quota to reach for the season. A friend of mine broke his wrist and 3 fingers while crabbing and kept working non-stop for the remainder of his 5 days on.
There were definitely some guys who thrived on the business and excitement, but I would say for the most part, I would not recommend it from what I've seen.
Also, I'm not sure what your personal background is, but you might want to consider the people and the culture you will be surrounded by. When I lived there, I missed literary conversations, movie theatres, concerts, people who don't talk about fish, etc. Of course I am sure you will meet nice people and there are definitely intelligent fishermen, but for me it was hard to meet people that I had much in common with.
This advice might not help for where you are thinking of going, and I hope you don't take this as a fishing- or Alaska- bashing post, but please do think about what your everyday life and surroundings are and what you might miss before you get out there.
posted by rmless at 8:25 AM on May 12, 2006

My neighbor does it. I think he's hooked up with a well run salmon boat and seems to make enough in a month or two to carry him for much of the year. Of course, he lives cheaply in a kind of crummy house with a roommate and I think most of his entertainment is going fishing and hiking. I don't get the impression he gets much sleep at all when he's on the boat and that and the physical toil take a heavy toll on him.
posted by Good Brain at 9:53 AM on May 12, 2006

I know you didn't want to know about sport fishing operations, but I'm going to give you my experience in that field anyway. Given the warnings everyone above have given, you may want to at least look into working for a lodge or outfitter. Often times you get to work in the most beautiful places on the planet, and virtually all of them feed and house you. Pay can vary greatly, but the most important aspect is the tipping scheme. Avoid places where tipping is individual, look for a pooled tip/even payout plan. You don't even necessarily need to know how to fish. There are plenty of hospitality positions, maitainence, mechanics, and general laborers at the larger lodges. It may not have the romance of the commercial boats, but a lodge isn't going to sink in near freezing water either.
posted by fantastic at 9:53 AM on May 12, 2006

I worked for the Coast Guard recruiting office for the state of Alaska for three years. About 30% of the people we enlisted had done at least one season crab or salmon fishing. Granted that these guys were the wash-outs, but they would rather be in the military (with a pay cut and the restrictions on personal freedoms) than do another season out there.

There is a possibility that they really wanted to sacrifice all that for their country, but I never heard them say that. They wanted out of the danger and uncertainty of the commercial fishing business.
posted by Elsbet at 12:01 PM on May 12, 2006

I grew up on a commercial seiner near Kachemak Bay, and my family earned a lot of money before the Exxon Valdez oil spill, but afterwards the fish population dropped dramatically and we stopped fishing when I was 12 (1993). The hours are long and the work is hard, but I always enjoyed being on the water week in and week out (then again, I was still a kid).

My husband worked on a boat in Prince William Sound---mostly out of Seward and Valdez---and made quite a bit through high school. He enjoyed the work, and it's not nearly as dangerous as working in Bristol Bay. My oldest brother still commercial fishes in the Sound and is doing good enough financially to stick with it. But one bad season can be pretty bad financially.

You say that you will be looking for work up here in June: I want to caution you that may be too late to get onto a boat. Most captains are hesitant enough hiring a stranger on their boat, but especially once the season has started. Do you have any connections up here? Friends or family that will help you get connected? I know back when my family was still fishing, my father would get stacks of resumes in the mail from young men and women hoping for a spot on his boat.
posted by rhapsodie at 12:10 PM on May 12, 2006

Thanks everyone! My plans are to center myself around the Kenai area - no crabbing / fishing in the Bering Sea for me. Most of the info here corroborates what I have found researching this industry. I have no family to take care of and will not have any bills (I'm 28 and have never even had a credit card) to worry about back home, hell, I won't even have a home to go back to. I'm used to "roughing it" somewhat - lived free for 3 months in a place with no hot water and no working refrigerator or air conditioning during a blazing Alabama summer so I feel I've got that going for me at least. Also, I'm not in it for the money so much as the experience.
posted by visit beautiful mount weather! at 12:16 PM on May 12, 2006

rhapsodite - I have few connections, nothing solid though. I'm hoping to have about $2000 saved when I leave to help get me through until I find something. I'll be camping out mainly I'm hoping that will cut down on expenses. I'm willing to do anything for work, even if it's not in the fishing industry. I'll register with the Alaska Employment Service when I reach Anchorage just in case. Also I plan to do a lot of 'dock stomping'.
posted by visit beautiful mount weather! at 12:20 PM on May 12, 2006

Also, I'm not in it for the money so much as the experience.

Try not to mention that or you may as well tape a sign to your head that says "please rip me off".

I've worked on fishing boats all over the state as have at the majority of my friends and your chances of ending up on a reputable boat which will actually rememebr to actually pay you at the end of the season are rock bottom lowest in the Kenai salmon seine fleet. That is times 100 as a greehhorn. Basically they have an endless supply of naive young guys who move up there for an adventure and they take advantage.
posted by fshgrl at 8:06 PM on May 12, 2006

fshgrl - thanks. do you have any suggestions as to how to make sure this doesn't happen, or perhaps a better area (I had planned on heading to Seward, Homer, or perhaps the city of Kenai) so as to not get ripped off? How's Kodiak?
posted by visit beautiful mount weather! at 12:26 AM on May 13, 2006