[quote=UCGal][quote=Ren]
Anecdotal – I know an early 40’s crab fisherman. He works two seasons per year (6-7 months total?) and makes over $150k in that time. He’s got seniority, so he doesn’t do the dangerous work anymore – he sits in a nice warm cabin operating the crane. I’m not sure I would ever have been willing to put in the work he did to get to that point, and probably physically incapable now. He says that most 20-somethings wash out after one season.[/quote]
Ever watch deadliest catch? – unless you’re running the pilot house or the crane – that work SUCKS.
That said – I lived in NW Washington for several years. There were a lot of boat owners who lived in Bellingham during the off season. It’s *very* lucrative if you own the boat… but those boats aren’t cheap. And there’s the months away from your family working extremely long hours (up to 48 hours straight if you’re lucky enough to have hit a high yield spot. That puts wear and tear on your body.
A friend of mine dated the son of a boat owner. He was 30, but looked closed to 50 because of the hard life during the season.[/quote]
Back in the 80s, some of my friends who were die-hard fishermen were recruited to work on the crab boats in Alaska. They were offered ~$6,000/month, which was an incredible amount of money at the time. About 5 friends went up, and all but one came back within a month or two. One of guys who came back with his tail between his legs was a 3rd degree black belt in Kung Fu, and was in incredibly good shape. He said the guys who did that work were totally insane. It was so dangerous, he left and forfeited all pay (because they paid for the airfare there and back). The only one who stayed in Alaska for any time ended up working at the loading docks. Not one of my friends finished a single season on the crab boats, and these were very tough, blue-collar type guys.
