Y R A R B I L S L L I K S Y R U T N E C T S 1 2 COOL CAREERS COMMERCIAL FISHER CHAPTER ONE A DAY AT WORK The Lexi II pulls out of an Alaskan harbor in mid-February It is headed out to the Bering Sea for several weeks of fishing for crabs or crabbing This commercial fishing vessel is built to survive big 40-foot 12-meter waves It’s a good thing because the ship will meet some of these waves during its trip Fishers unload a crab pot pulled from the Bering Sea
The galley’s freezer and pantry are loaded with meat cereal and canned goods Deckhands eat huge meals when they are out at sea They work 18 to 20-hour shifts The meals help them keep up their strength The Lexi II heads toward an area where crabs are often found Deckhands bait the bulky crab pots that will capture the crabs Then they throw the pots into the water A buoy marks the location of each crab pot After the last pot is dropped the ship returns to haul up the first pots It may be a day or longer before a pot is brought back on deck Hope fully the pot will be full of crabs Fishers measure and sort the crabs Crabs that are too small are returned to the sea Off the coast of Maine another boatload of commercial fishers heads out to sea They are in a 113-foot 34-meter vessel called the Sunshine They will fish for herring To do this the crew uses a purse seine This kind of net forms into a pouch trapping fish inside Netting fish is hard work It takes about 2 hours to set up the net and haul it back in The Sunshine’s crew works all night to put the net out four or five times Many things can go wrong on a fishing trip Bad weather limits the amount of fish caught Nets tear machines break and people get hurt Sonar can help find fish but it only works if the fish are nearby These can all reduce a fishing trip’s success
Y R A R B I L S L L I K S Y R U T N E C T S 1 2 COOL CAREERS COMMERCIAL FISHER CENTURY CONTENT CENTURY 212121STSTST CENTURY CONTENT CONTENT for In the United States different methods Commercial fishers use different methods different different types catching different types of fish of fish of different methods are trawling and the two most popular most popular most purse seining Trawling is used to scoop fish and shellfish off the off the off catch sardines tuna and other schooling fish Commercial fishers on Canadian waters use ocean floor Purse seining is used to similar methods similar methods similar for example for example for Gillnetters seiners and trollers are commonly used commonly used commonly harvest salmon to harvest salmon harvest 25 PURSE SEINE 54 TRAWL POT AND TRAP 7 LONGLINE 5 GILLNET 3 UNSPECIFIED 3 DREDGE 2 POLE TROLL 1 OTHER 1 Source National Marine Fisheries Service 2009
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