I grew up in a fishing village. The investment and constant outlay in nets and fuel amongst other things was incredible. Having seen both sides it’s really not as clear cut as just dip the net and pull up a few grand. There was a gravestone I see all the Time as a kid that had “ let not the deep swallow me up “ it’s stuck with me forever
Do fishermen have it easy
- Thread starter Rowland
- Start date
- Location
- Galloway
It's easy to see the ones from fishing communities
much more so
- Location
- roe valley
My dads best friend used to own a fleet of fishing boats. He eventually sold up as the business was so corrupt when quotas first came in. He said other firms would have be doing deals with skippers from other EU countries. They would catch there quota and more then load onto other boats while out at sea exchanging big bags of cash. Hard to compete when its good its good.
Dave6170
Member
- Location
- Watten, caithness
Its bloody hard and dangerous, they deserve what they earn.
My dads uncles had a boat, a seine netter out of scrabster
My bank manager goes on about a boat where the crews bonus was an audi a3, each!
My dads uncles had a boat, a seine netter out of scrabster
My bank manager goes on about a boat where the crews bonus was an audi a3, each!
- Location
- West Wales
Oosh that must have been big haul!
4/5 years ago a semi retired potter was trying to sell all of his equipment off ( thousands of pots) weeks of bad weather came in and the prices rose as no one could get out, he went out with his gear and cleared £60k in 3 days in rough weather but he admitted that it was that bad he’d never go out again and he sold boat and gear within a few weeks
Did you ever change the fuel filter on a tractor rolling 45 degrees each way?
Rowland
Member
- Location
- Northeast England
I grew up on a rented farm and the out lay never stopped either
Rowland
Member
- Location
- Northeast England
Should have changed it in dock
- Location
- West Wales
Dave6170
Member
- Location
- Watten, caithness
That was their annual bonus but still must be some boat!
They make crab and lobster pots in Wick. I think an arctic load is almost £30k, sometimes a load a week goes out the place!
Rowland
Member
- Location
- Northeast England
I’m not actually on about the dangerous side of things agriculture is still one of the most dangerous jobs you can do. It’s the lack of inputs that they have, yes boats nets running costs we all have similar costs but it the lack of investment they put back into the sea . If farmers just took took took from there land it would soon give up . It’s kind of what over fishing has done over the last 100 years to the seas , things look like they are picking up a bit these day
Rowland
Member
- Location
- Northeast England
They probably do in American where farmers get more respect
hindsight is always 20:20 - my fishing experience is minimal but I can well remember changing a piston on a slow speed diesel on Xmas day 1977 - it was a fairly fresh day in mid Atlantic - and the piston weighed 3 tonnes.
Rowland
Member
- Location
- Northeast England
And you are still here to tell the tail
When did your tractor last have a fuel problem whilst parked in the yard?
Rowland
Member
- Location
- Northeast England
If you know your going into a dangerous situation you might want to make sure every thing is as good as it can be. I’m not saying fishing doesn’t have any dangerous problems far from it . It’s the investment side of things . Yes there’s the boat and gear but most farms will have as much money tied up in machines etc before you start talking about land and stock
Rowland
Member
- Location
- Northeast England
When the f**ker won’t start
Very tempting to think something looks easy from the outside when you have no knowledge of the investment, running costs, risks, hard work, stress and complications involved. Comes across a bit like David Mittchell's farming sketch:
I have a few friends who are crab/lobster fishermen, and the investment in ropes, pots etc etc as others have said above, even for a relativity small, single-handed operation, can be huge. And a certain percentage of all that equipment needs replacing/repairing each year, so its not just a one-off cost that lasts decades. Diesel is a far more significant cost than it is for most farmers. Hours are often very long, and the work can be hellish at times.
Apparently you want to disregard the danger aspect although that would seem to me to be a factor in determining whether someone "has it easy".
Another thing worth bearing in mind is that the fishing industry is probably as diverse as the farming industry. "Do farmers have it easy" is a meaningless question as some of the challenges of say, farming sheep on a Welsh mountain vary hugely to growing milling wheat in Lincolnshire, or running a dairy herd, or pigs, poultry, veg, the list goes on. Completely different businesses and lifestyles you'd say, and the same could be said for the difference between a North Sea trawler and a single-handed boat with a few hundred pots off the Cornish coast.
If you had asked "is (for example) window cleaning easy, they don't need to spend hundreds of thousands on tractors and inputs", I might have been inclined to agree, but what does it matter? So are probably a lot of other jobs (good for them!), and a lot of them also probably have their challenges, dangers, costs and worries that those of us outside the profession don't notice.
I have a few friends who are crab/lobster fishermen, and the investment in ropes, pots etc etc as others have said above, even for a relativity small, single-handed operation, can be huge. And a certain percentage of all that equipment needs replacing/repairing each year, so its not just a one-off cost that lasts decades. Diesel is a far more significant cost than it is for most farmers. Hours are often very long, and the work can be hellish at times.
Apparently you want to disregard the danger aspect although that would seem to me to be a factor in determining whether someone "has it easy".
Another thing worth bearing in mind is that the fishing industry is probably as diverse as the farming industry. "Do farmers have it easy" is a meaningless question as some of the challenges of say, farming sheep on a Welsh mountain vary hugely to growing milling wheat in Lincolnshire, or running a dairy herd, or pigs, poultry, veg, the list goes on. Completely different businesses and lifestyles you'd say, and the same could be said for the difference between a North Sea trawler and a single-handed boat with a few hundred pots off the Cornish coast.
If you had asked "is (for example) window cleaning easy, they don't need to spend hundreds of thousands on tractors and inputs", I might have been inclined to agree, but what does it matter? So are probably a lot of other jobs (good for them!), and a lot of them also probably have their challenges, dangers, costs and worries that those of us outside the profession don't notice.
Aye and dont forget one poor lad still in the water off your coast, they found his dad but not him.