A day in the life of a prawn fisherman
Well Shane has been gone for a little over a month now and we are keeping very busy here at farm while he is away - horses, cows, and chickens take a lot of work during this time of year! We often joke that the prawn season can sometimes become a bit like “Groundhog Day” - the routine is very much the same day after day! I thought it might be interesting to share what a typical day in the life of a prawn fisherman looks like……
The day out on the water starts with………..COFFEE. Lots of coffee! Once everyone is up and out of the bunks and have had their first dose of caffeine, Shane puts the boat into gear while the guys head down into the freezer to move the prawn boxes from the plates into the hold. Once the freezer work is finished with, it’s time for a quick breakfast and then the task at hand is to prepare the deck for another day’s work. The live tank needs to be filled, boxes need to be marked, and the sorting and packing tables need to be prepped.
Then, it’s time to haul the first string! Shane will idle up to the end of the first string of the day and one of the crew will need to be quick with the picker-pole to swipe up the line. Into the hauler it goes and then everyone waits for the groundline to come aboard. Soon, the first trap of the day (the first of 300!) can be seen breaking through the water. Each string consists of 50 traps and it can take anywhere from half an hour to two hours to haul one string, depending on how fruitful it is. Each trap gets dumped out onto the sorting table where the prawns are sorted - any undersized prawns are sent back into the water and all legal-sized prawns are pushed down into a mesh bag.
Once the entire string is aboard Shane and the crew get right to work finger packing the prawns or tailing them for the tubs. Once all of the prawns from the first string are dealt with and are on the freezer plates, it’s time to set the string back out into the water to be hauled back the next day. Traps are baited and set out between the becketts, sent back down to the ocean floor.
The entire process is repeated five more times (6 strings per day) and all hauling and setting of the gear must be completed before 7:00 pm each night as per DFO regulations. At some point during the day a quick lunch is eaten but it always something quick!
Once the last string is set back out, it’s time to clean and sanitize the deck. This is the time of day when the music gets turned up a little louder and everyone can look forward to a bit of time to relax. Oh, and they will eat a BIG dinner. Dinner is a big deal out fishing - there’s usually not too much time for breakfast or lunch so those meals are fairly straightforward, but dinner is THE meal of the day. I was always told when out fishing that if you’re the cook and there aren’t any leftovers after dinner, you didn’t make enough food.
If it’s not too late, this is the time of day for a quiet moment on the back deck with a guitar, or a movie in the cabin, or some down-time with a book, or a quick phone call home. Unless of course it’s been a few days since the last shower, in which case it’s shower time.
And then, back into the bunk for another “Groundhog Day” tomorrow……….