The life of a fisherman in the North Sea

[Everythingape]

Just thought I'd share some pictures of what's going on when we're out there.

Like any other job we have the good days and the not so good days..

Only difference is we have to rely on our workplace not to sink..

It's been a real shitty spring this year, with plenty of storms, hurricane force winds, snow until May and far between the bright days.

Summer has come, and we've had a few nice trips so far.. It's all looking better.

Here's one of the bad days:

This is where you pray you didn't leave a hatch or porthole open anywhere.

One of the good days:

And the best days of them all:

[2005SUBMARINER]

man youv got to have some big COJONES! to work out ther man

i certainly wont be able to do that type of work ill freak out at the site of the ocean entering the ship ...

but excellent pix ! looks like exciting work ..

theres gotta be big ass sharks out there great whites , tigers , oceanic white tips ? have you seen those types of sharks out there ?

[Everythingape]

Hehe 2005SUB, ..My balls are ok sized.. nothing special.. lol

You don't really consider it danger, until you get smacked by a wave like the one in the first picture.. That's when you might start thinking a job ashore won't be that bad after all.

But then you come ashore, get a days rest, and you want to go back out and make that money.

We actually don't have many sharks here.. I guess it's the cold water. We hear about the occasional basking shark, and something called porbeagle in english (I think).. But these are deep water fish. We catch some dogfish sometimes. That's it.

There's a lot of whales and dolphins though, we see them everywhere, and they follow the fish migration like we do. When it's all quiet, and you go below the waterline inside the boat, you can hear them singing through the hull. Quite fascinating

We catch them by accident now and then, but they mostly break through our nets with little difficulty, or we let them out before they do.

[2005SUBMARINER]

man sounds like a hell of exciting job !

& not every one can do something like that ! i know deepsea fishermen are a choosen few

good luck & thanx for sharing those most excellent pix !

[deltatahoe]

And the best days of them all:

OMG

how many fish (do you measure in weight when there are that many?) are in that net? or better yet, how many $$'s in one catch?

deltatahoe

[Everythingape]

Thanks 2005SUB.. though you never say "good luck" to a fisherman.. ..you wish him poor fisheries! It's kinda like "break a leg".

Deltatahoe, that catch was around 2000 tons, or around 4,490,000 pounds if you will..

It was worth $1 million. But it was shared with 3 boats. ..you normally don't bring that much herring in a single load because of quality.

Our current skipper actually holds the unofficial norwegian record for largest catch in one haul, estimated at 10,000tons. But this was before I joined the boat.

[KB]

Those pic's are fantastic Ape, I suppose you realise there would be newspapers and such willing to pay good money for shots like those?

Ken

[kasigi]

That's the sort of work I'd love to do, how easy/difficult is it to get into that sort of thing?

It's a serious question!

[2005SUBMARINER]

then poor fisheries! it is my good friend ! reelem in buddy!

[Everythingape]

Thanks 2005SUB and Kenberg!

I sold two pics to a norwegian fisheries newspaper this spring, of a boat run aground. It pays, but it's not going to make me rich. The media here (and elsewhere I suspect) have set freelance fees they give you for pictures, and they thus buy the right to use it so and so many times. In february it was $220 for a single picture, a bit more if it's used on a front page.

@ kasigi

Jobs on pelagic trawlers/purse seiners don't grow on trees, they pay fairly well, so people usually stick with it for a long time. And with boats being fewer, larger, and more effective with smaller crews there are less jobs. Your best chance is if you're a certified engineer like I am. I got my job through my brother, who is a chief engineer on the boat I am on. And that's usually how it is, you have to know someone.

If you're serious and willing enough, you should try contacting the large scottish and irish companies like

Lunar Fishing Co. Ltd, Serene Fishing Company Ltd, Doyle Fishing Company Ltd, Taymass Ltd., Wiseman Fishing Ltd., Killybegs Fishing Enterprises ...and I am sure there are a few dozen others. They know more about your chances than I do.

It's a good deal mostly, we work 5 weeks and have 5 weeks off. And summers and december we don't work at all normally. Still we make a good wage, and it's never (hah) boring.

[2005SUBMARINER]

& good $$$ it is , i like to watch discovery deadly catch , where they show alaskan snow crabers hull in tons of the stuff 7 some of those dudes can make $35k in one hull

but looks scary as hell man !

p.s how does the SS on your watches hold up to the salt water ?

Edited June 18, 2007 by 2005SUBMARINER

[Everythingape]

Oh yeah, money is good. But we're all painfully aware that things might change. There's always been good stretches and bad stretches in fishing the north sea. ..But research is better these days, so our quotas are set quite low based on fish population estimates.

I can't say it's not dangerous, but it's not scary at all after you've been on the boat a few days. I've been on smaller 70ft vessels that I didn't trust, and that was hell on earth.. Always waiting for that little something to go wrong, listening for sounds and movements that shouldn't be there.

All in all, it doesn't matter which boat/ship/tub you're on, the best thing about being a sailor is coming home.

I'm wearing my Quartz Planet Ocean mostly, and it's holding up famously, even though it's been ducked in saltwater more times than I can remember. My Seamaster GMT has lost its pearl, shine and an hour marker.. But it's still ticking.

I also brought a PAM 111h and my Timex Magnum Indiglo! ..gotta have something nice when you go ashore to meet the female townsfolk.

[2005SUBMARINER]

hey if you ever decide to settle as an engineer on land & happen to be in NYC let me know

i may be able to pull some strings here in NYC ..

lots of opening for stationary engineers .. about $300 per day .

[KB]

300 per day! sheeeet I am in the wrong game

I have always had a fascination with the sea, something I get from my Father as he spent most of his life at sea both with the Australian Navy and then later with the Merchant Navy before coming ashore for an executive position.

My Father has been on 3 ships that sank, on the last one he actually had to get all the crew down into the hull to move cargo all night until help arrived in the morning, when they all were finally rescued they watched their ship roll over and the go down like a stone.

Ken

[2005SUBMARINER]

you dad is a hero ken ! !!!

i also have a facination with the sea , but as soon as i see DISCOVERY shark week it is all over for me ! ..

i will go on a cruise with my fam in december

[KB]

Yeah a cruise is the best sea action for me too........................no drama

Ken

[kasigi]

Thanks for the info

[Everythingape]

Haha! 2005SUB,

Have you ever heard the expression "As confused as a fart in a wicker chair."? That would be me in NYC.

I'm small town even for a small town. Grew up on an island with 70-80 people, all very closely related.. Cancel the banjos though, we had sense enough to leave the island to find women.

But seriously, I appreciate the offer, options in life keeps a man happy.

Some of the appeal in my work is the time off.. 6-7 months a year to do exactly what you want. Not many jobs can offer that.

@ kasigi, No problem, good luck and I hope to see you out there, mate.

@kenberg, ah yes, the old days.. ..I like to imagine them with plenty of chances to distinguish yourself.. But I guess we have just as many these days. I too come from a long line of sailors and fishermen. Actually I think ALL the men on both sides of my family have been working at sea one time or another. So I guess I didn't have much of a choice.

..during the first two years of WWII my grandfather smuggled weapons from Scotland and Shetland to the norwegian resistance, and people back the other way.. Earned him three years until the end of the war in Sachsenhausen concentration camp when the nazis caught them.

Funny thing, if you can call it that, was that they were looking for his father-in-law, but their names were so similar that they took the wrong guy. He never once tried to get off! ..doing three years for your father-in-law in nazi hell.. THAT takes a man.

[KB]

Well like they keep telling us Ape.............They made them tougher in those days.

Ken

[Jumbie]

Wow, that's pretty nuts. I'd probably be spilling my guts over the side of the boat...and then getting washed away by one of those waves.

I like sailing (as in actually sailing rather than being on a big boat like a cruise). But on calm seas.

[2005SUBMARINER]

hahaha 80 people

yea NYC is not for every one this is one crazy city man !

cant wait to retire to relocte to a small town like you described above !

somewhere where i can play my dam geeeeeetar at full volume & not have the police dept knocking at my door

[Everythingape]

I have my plan ready, 2005SUB!

I'm building a garage next to my house and I'll soundproof the loft a little.. Set up all my guitars and amps, buy a drum kit and invite the guys over for screaming jams.

If you ever find yourself in Norway 'round my parts, drop by and we'll set up a keyboard and play JUMP!

[Everythingape]

This is where we're headed this week, going west of Ireland to fish for blue whiting..

This clip was filmed last year in Pentland firth, just north of Scotland. With the current meeting the wind, it makes the waves huge.

LETS ALL GET SEASICK!!!11one

[Guest TTK]

You have my admiration and appreciation Sir.....!

Remember the Andrea Gale

Wi' our nets and gear we're faring

On the wild and wispful ocean

It's there on the deep‚ that we harvest and reap oor bread

As we hunt the bonny shoals o' herring

Twas a fine and a pleasant summer's day

Out of Yarmouth harbour I was faring

As a cabin boy on a sailing lugger

We were off tae hunt the shoals o' herring

Now the work was hard and the hours were long

And the treatment surely took some bearing

There was little kindness and the kicks were many

As we hunted for the shoals o' herring

Now we fished the Swarth and the Broken Bank

I was cook and I'd a quarter sharing

And I used to sleep standin' on my feet

And I'd dream about the shoals o' herring

Well‚ we left the home ground in the month o' June

And for canny Shields we soon were bearing

Wi a hundred cran of the silver darlings

That we'd taken from the shoals o' herring

Through the stormy seas and the living gale

Just tae earn your daily bread you're daring

From the Dover Straits to the Faroe Islands

As you're following the shoals o' herring

Now you're up on deck‚ you're a fisherman

You can swear and show a manly bearing

Take your turn on deck wi the other fellows

As you're following the shoals o' herring

Night and day we're faring

Come winter wind or winter gale

Sweat or cold‚ growing up‚ growing old and dying

As you hunt the bonnie shoals o' herring

Edited February 22, 2008 by TTK

[rodwc]

Absolutely fasinating read Ape,

Having spent 4 years at sea myself (uncertified engineer ) I know what rough weather

is all about.

You guys certainly earn your money, make no mistake about that.

The pics were fabulous , and many thanks for the insight.