Commercial Fisherman – The Career

Another Contract

If you prove yourself to the company during your first contract by hard work and no complaining, they will be happy to see you back on the ship. I waited two trips/ 19 days before returning back on the ship. Usually people make more money on their second contract than on the first. By then a person isn’t a complete beginner and depending on your progress your share increases also. At the start of the first contract I had 1.75 share, for the second contract I had 3 shares and sometimes even 0.5 share bonus on top of that. Where one share was equal to $1000, this made a $1250 difference for one trip. The longer you stay on the ship, the more you can earn. If you want to and you have what it takes, stay!

More contracts – long-time perspective

As a processor, you do the heaviest jobs, you also take the most shit.life of a fisherman

If you like the job and if you make good money – why not make it a career. Let me give you my personal view. If you do not have the ambition to level up from a processing position, career of a fisherman doesn’t really make sense for you. On my second contract I have already made the most money I could in the factory. As a processor, you do the heaviest jobs, you also take the most shit. I would not want to do this for my whole life. If you spend at least two contracts a year on a fishing boat, you work hard and you are willing to learn, you can become a deckhand, foreman, deck boss, boat engineer or even a captain in the following years. They make a lot more money than processors, but they do have a lot more responsibility. If all you want is quick money, you won’t make it any further than processor, and if you are very lucky, to a combi position. I was the lucky one for one trip. I speak only from the factory trawler (big boat) point of view.