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Article: Fish Guts - The Job

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Fish Guts - The Job

Could fish guts make your fortune? An adventurous chum could make a small fortune, according to small-type ads in the back of magazines that boast: "Earn up to $30,000 fishing in Alaska!" Could it be true - does the sockeye run bring in anything more than a sand dollar?  In search of the scoop on what a summer spent floating atop Arctic waters entails, Vault.com spoke with some hearty Alaskans.  Apparently there are plenty of fish in the sea, according to well-weathered fishermen, and there is a lot of money to be made.  There's just one catch - you can bet you'll be more than earning every penny of it.

Rough waters ahead
Fishermen have a tough life out on the sea; the unseasoned "greenhorn" must tread some choppy water.  A seiner's crew for the 12 week season typically consists of five burly members: three deckhands, a skiff man, and the captain.  Within the commercial fishing season there are a series of mini-seasons called "openings." With only 12 hours of legal fishing time within each opening, there's no time to waste on the water.  That means that from time zero, when the nets hit the water, to when the final line is pulled at hour 12, the crew has a full day of non-stop aerobics.  The strenuous nature of commercial fishing demands that deckhands be physically prepared to meet the challenge of long, tedious days at sea.  With so much to be done, says one Alaskan fisherman "you don't take breaks for lunch or anything.  On top of that you start 2 hours before the opening 'icing up' (stocking the boat with ice to chill the catch).  After the opening closes, you still have to unload the fish.  One day is generally 15-16 hours long.  You do that 3-4 days a week." Because crew members work on a percentage of the boat's intake (generally ranging from 5-8 percent), some days are better than others.  One deckhand made as little as 32 cents after a particularly unfruitful day's work, and as much as $800 on another.

Greenhorn for sale
Like any profession, getting on a fishing boat has a lot to do with how well you market yourself.  Throw back any orthodox advice you've heard about the best way to land a job - you may find that your biggest test has nothing to do with the salmon run.  Ninety percent of a deckhand's interview takes place in the fisherman's post-opening hangout - the bar.  "Hanging out in bars," says one Alaskan, "that's really how you [find jobs on boats]." While you may be expected to depart from the norm, schmoozing is schmoozing no matter what the industry.  Though the inexperienced must take heed - Alaskan bars don't guarantee the friendliest atmosphere. ~ Beyond the Bar
If you don't pass the Alaskan bar exam in the local saloons, there's still hope.  You can easily land a cannery or processing job by answering a newspaper ad (the most reliable ads appear in Alaskan newspapers).  The question is, do you really want one.  According to one contact, the money is good, but working in a cannery is "hard, dirty, demeaning, cold, slimy work." The canneries and processors generally promise an hourly wage of $6 per hour, with overtime pay after an 8-hour day and anything over 40 hours a week.  With heavy weeks amounting to seven 16-hour days, it's likely that you'll earn $8-900 during the busy weeks, though unlikely that you'll sustain that workload throughout the season.

As for room and board, one well-known cannery, Seahawk, charges $7 a day for bare bones accommodation generally consisting of cafeteria food and dormitory-style housing.  Seahawk will, however, refund your room and board fare if you stay through the end of your contract.  While that may sound simple enough, it's "easy to get fired.  There are a lot of fist fights and petty disagreements; getting fired mid-season is not something to discount - especially if you haven't worked in a cannery before," warns an Alaskan cannery veteran.  One plus for those not up to the physical challenge of commercial fishing, stamina combined with average physical strength is enough to pull through a summer up to your elbows in fish guts.

Heading for higher ground
Seasoned with fish guts and slime, the going trend for fishermen these days is to head for higher ground.  New regulations on the horizon will allow crabs to tip-toe freely throughout the ocean depths - crab openings have been seriously limited by the Fishery Management Plan.  And because there are plenty of fish in the sea, the prize catch isn't what it used to be.  Just twenty years ago one pound of sockeye salmon went for 35 cents; today it brings in seven.  While financial gains have declined in recent years, there's no mistaking the stale scent of fish guts and halibut slime that permeate every fiber of a true summer migrant worker.  Few people can boast of having been elbow deep in fish guts.  If nothing else, it provides an interesting resume topic to discuss in future interviews.