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Fishers, Hunters, and Trappers

(D.O.T.  197.133-010, -018; 441; 442; 443; 446 except .133 and .134;
447; 449 except .674; and 461)

Nature of the Work

Fishers, hunters, and trappers gather aquatic and animal species for
human consumption, animal feed, bait, and other uses, and manage
animals for research and control purposes.  The range of
occupational functions reflects the wide variety of aquatic and
animal life and their environments.

   Gathering fish hundreds of miles from shore with commercial fishing
vessels large boats capable of hauling a catch of tens of thousands
of pounds of fish requires a crew including a captain, or skipper, a
first mate and sometimes a second mate, boatswain, and deckhands.

   The captain plans and oversees the fishing operation the fish to be
sought, the location of the best fishing grounds, the method of
capture, the duration of the trip, and the sale of the catch.  The
captain ensures that the fishing vessel is in suitable condition;
oversees the purchase of supplies, gear, and equipment such as fuel,
netting, and cables; and hires qualified crew members and assigns
their duties.  The vessel's course is plotted with navigation aids
such as compasses, sextants, and charts; it is navigated using
electronic equipment such as autopilots, a loran system, and
satellites to ascertain position.  The ships also use radar to avoid
obstacles and depth sounders to indicate the water depth and the
existence of marine life between the vessel and sea bottom.  The
captain directs the fishing operation through his mates and other
officers, and records daily activities in the ship's log.  Upon
returning to port, the captain arranges for the sale of the catch
directly to buyers or through a fish auction and ensures that each
crew member receives the prearranged portion of the adjusted net
proceeds from the sale of the catch.

   The first mate the captain's assistant, who must be familiar with
navigation requirements and the operation of all electronic
equipment assumes control of the vessel when the captain is off
duty.  These duty shifts, called watches, usually last 6 hours.  The
mate's regular duty, with the help of the boatswain and under the
captain's oversight, is to direct the fishing operations and sailing
responsibilities of the deckhands.  These include the operation,
maintenance, and repair of the vessel and the gathering,
preservation, stowing, and unloading of the catch.

   The boatswain, a highly experienced deckhand with supervisory
responsibilities, directs the deckhands as they carry out the
sailing and fishing operations.  Prior to departure, the boatswain
directs the deckhands to load equipment and supplies, either
manually or with hoisting equipment, and untie lines from other
boats and the dock.  When necessary, they repair fishing gear,
equipment, nets, and accessories.  They operate the fishing gear,
letting out and pulling in nets and lines.  They extract the catch
such as pollock, flounder, menhaden, and tuna from the nets or
lines' hooks.  Deckhands use dip nets to prevent the escape of small
fish and gaffs to facilitate the landing of large fish.  The catch
is then washed, salted, iced, and stowed away.  Additionally,
deckhands must ensure that the decks are clear and clean at all
times and that the vessel's engines and equipment are kept in good
working order.  Upon return to port, they secure the vessel's lines
to and from the docks and other vessels.  Unless lumpers, or
laborers, are hired, the deckhands unload the catch.

   The number of large fishing vessels that operate in deep water is
increasing.  These vessels generally have more technologically
advanced equipment, and some may have facilities on board where the
fish are processed and prepared for sale.  They are equipped for
longer stays at sea and can perform the work of several smaller
boats.  (For information about merchant marine occupations, see the
statement on water transportation occupations elsewhere in the
Handbook.)

   Some full-time and many part-time fishers work on small boats in
relatively shallow waters and often in sight of land.  Navigation
and communication needs are modest, and there is little need for
much electronic equipment or provisions for long stays at sea.
Crews are small usually only one or two people collaborate on all
aspects of the fishing operation.  This may include placing gill
nets across the mouths of rivers or inlets, entrapment nets in bays
and lakes, or pots and traps for shellfish such as lobsters and
crabs.  Dredges and scrapes are sometimes used to gather shellfish
such as oysters and scallops.  A very small proportion of commercial
fishing is conducted as diving operations.  Depending upon the
water's depth, divers wearing a regulation diving suit with an
umbilical (air line) or a scuba outfit and equipment may use spears
to catch fish and nets and other equipment to gather shellfish,
coral, sea urchins, abalone, and sponges.  In very shallow waters,
fish are caught from small boats having an outboard motor, or from
rowboats, or by wading.  Fishers use a wide variety of hand-operated
equipment for example, nets, tongs, rakes, hoes, hooks, and shovels
to gather fish and shellfish, catch amphibians and reptiles such as
frogs and turtles, and harvest marine vegitation such as Irish moss
and kelp.

   Although most fishers are involved with commercial fishing, some
captains and deckhands are primarily employed in sport or
recreational fishing.  Typically a group of people charter a fishing
vessel for periods ranging from several hours to a number of days
for sport fishing, socializing, and relaxation, and employ a captain
and possibly several deckhands.

   Hunters track, stalk, and kill their quarry, either for a government
agency or for bounty.  They may hunt alone or with others and may
use dogs to locate and corner the quarry.  They use guns or poisons
to kill predatory animals such as coyotes.  Alligator hunters may
shoot their quarry after snaring it with baited hooks.  A few
hunters collect animals for museums.  All legal hunting activities
are approved and monitored by the appropriate Federal, State, or
local government agencies.  Exceptions are made for Native Americans
on their own reservations and Alaska Natives.

   Trappers catch animals or birds using baited, scented, or
camouflaged traps, snares, cages, or nets.  Many hunters and
trappers skin animals and prepare and sell the pelts and skins.
Trappers also may be involved with animal damage control, wildlife
management, disease control, and research activities.  Animal damage
control involves the disposition or relocation of animals that are a
nuisance or pose a potential danger for example, bears.  Wildlife
management involves the relocation of animals for example, muskrats
and beavers to deal with environmental disruption or animal
population imbalance.  Disease control involves the capture and
destruction of rabid animals that threaten public or animal health.
Research activities include blood sampling for health determination
and the banding of wildfowl to ascertain migratory movements.

   Commercial fishing is hard, physical work.

Working Conditions

Fishing, hunting, and trapping operations are conducted under
various environmental conditions, depending on the region of the
country and the kind of species being sought.  Fishing vessels may
be hampered or imperiled by storms, fog, or wind.  Divers are
affected by murky water and unexpected shifts in underwater
currents.  Hunters and trappers are hampered or disrupted by storms
and rough terrain.

   Fishers, hunters, and trappers work under hazardous conditions, and
often help is not readily available.  Malfunctioning navigation or
communication equipment may lead to collisions or even shipwrecks.
Malfunctioning fishing gear poses the danger of injury to the crew,
who also must guard against entanglement in fishing nets and gear,
slippery decks resulting from fish processsing operations, ice
formation in the winter, or being swept overboard a fearsome
situation.  Treatment for serious injuries may have to await
transfer to a hospital.  Divers must guard against entanglement of
air lines, malfunction of scuba equipment, decompression problems,
or attacks by predatory fish.  Hunters and trappers face numerous
hazards such as assault by predators, falling branches and trees,
slippery ground, danger of drowning by falling through ice on ponds,
accidental self-inflicted gunshot, and snake and insect bites.
Danger from incapacitating injuries is especially high, because
these individuals often work alone in isolated areas.  A disabled
individual may die of injuries that could be routinely treated in an
urban area.

   This occupation entails strenuous outdoor work and long hours.
Fishing trips may require a stay of several weeks or months hundreds
of miles away from home port.  The pace of work varies intense while
netting and hauling the catch aboard and relatively relaxed while
traveling between home port and the fishing grounds.  However,
lookout watches usually 6 hours long are a regular responsibility
and crew members must be prepared to stand watch at prearranged
times of the day or night.  Although fishing gear has improved and
operations have become more mechanized, netting and processing fish
are strenuous activities.  Even though newer vessels have improved
living quarters and amenities such as television and shower stalls,
crews still experience the aggravations of confined conditions,
continuous close personal contact, and the absence of family.
Hunters and trappers generally must travel many miles by car or
truck and then carry equipment and supplies on foot through swamps
or forests, over rugged terrain.  Long hours dawn to dusk often are
the rule, and many spend lonely nights camped out in sparsely
populated, forested, or mountainous areas.

Employment

Fishers, hunters, and trappers held an estimated 60,000 jobs in
1992.  Over half were self-employed.  About 1 in 5 of them worked
part time, particularly in the summer, when demand for these workers
peaks.

   Captains, mates, and deckhands on fishing vessels accounted for the
majority of these jobs.  Trappers, and to a lesser extent hunters,
accounted for the remaining jobs.

   Outside of the fishing, hunting, and trapping industry, some people
employed in this occupation are involved in sport fishing
activities, while small numbers are employed in museums.  Others
work for government or buy and sell fur.

Training, Other Qualifications, and Advancement

Fishers generally acquire their occupational skills on the job, many
as members of families involved in fishing activities.  No formal
academic requirements exist.  Under a Coast Guard legislative
proposal, operators of federally documented commercial fishing
vessels will be required to complete a Coast Guard-approved training
course.  Young people can expedite their entrance into these
occupations by enrolling in 2-year vocational-technical programs
offered by secondary schools, primarily in coastal areas.  In
addition, the University of Rhode Island offers a bachelor's degree
program in fishery technology that includes courses in seamanship,
vessel operations, marine safety, navigation, vessel repair and
maintenance, health emergencies, and fishing gear technology, and is
accompanied by hands-on experience.

   Experienced fishers may find short-term workshops offered through
various postsecondary institutions especially useful.  These
programs provide a good working knowledge of electronic equipment
used in navigation and communication and the latest improvements in
fishing gear.

   Captains and mates on larger fishing vessels of at least 200 gross
tons must be licensed.  Captains of sport fishing boats used for
charter, regardless of size, also must be licensed.  Crew members on
certain fish processing vessels may need a merchant mariner's
document.  These documents and licenses are issued by the U.S.
Coast Guard to individuals who meet the stipulated health, physical,
and academic requirements.

   Fishers must be in good health and possess physical strength.
Coordination and mechanical aptitude are necessary to operate,
maintain, and repair equipment and fishing gear.  They need
perseverance to work long hours on the sea, often under difficult
conditions.  On larger vessels, they must be able to work as members
of a team.  They must be patient, yet always alert, to overcome the
boredom of long watches when not engaged in fishing operations.  The
ability to assume any deckhand's functions, on short notice, is
important.  Mates must have supervisory ability and be able to
assume any deckhand's and the captain's duties, when necessary.  The
captain must be highly experienced, mature, decisive, and possess
the necessary business skills.  Captains with initiative and the
required capital often become boat owners.

   On fishing vessels, most fishers begin as deckhands.  Deckhands
whose experience and interests are in ship engineering maintenance
and repair of ship engines and equipment can eventually become
licensed chief engineers on large commercial vessels after meeting
the U.S.  Coast Guard's experience, physical, and academic
requirements.  Divers in fishing operations can enter commercial
diving activity for example, ship repair and pier and marina
maintenance usually after completion of a certified training program
sponsored by an educational institution or industry association.
Experienced, reliable deckhands who display supervisory qualities
may become boatswains.  Boatswains may, in turn, become second
mates, first mates, and finally captains.  Almost all captains
become self-employed, and the overwhelming majority eventually own
or have an interest in one or more fishing ships.  Some may choose
to run a sport or recreational fishing operation.  When their
seagoing days are over, experienced individuals may work in or, with
the necessary capital, own stores selling fishing and marine
equipment and supplies.  Some captains may assume advisory or
administrative positions in industry trade associations or
government offices such as harbor development commissions, or
teaching positions in industry-sponsored workshops or in educational
institutions.

   Hunters and trappers generally acquire their knowledge of wildlife
and hunting and trapping equipment and supplies gradually, through
experience.  Some are members of rural families for whom hunting and
trapping have been a way of life for generations.  Formal training
for hunters consists of a federally mandated and State sponsored
hunter safety class, covering safety and ethics, which must be
passed prior to being issued a hunting license in almost every
State.  Inexperienced individuals may join an established sports
association to observe professional demonstrations and gain
knowledge of hunting weapons and related equipment and tracking and
survival techniques.  After acquiring the mandatory State hunting
license, they should hunt with an experienced hunter as an
apprentice.  Government hunters who hunt rabid or nuisance animals
may be trained in the use of airplanes or helicopters.

   Trappers may undergo various forms of training.  For those
interested in the sale of animals and their skins, pelts, or furs,
experience is fundamental.  Inexperienced trappers may serve an
internship under the supervision of a professional trapper and take
trapper education programs.  Trapper education programs are offered
by State wildlife departments or State trappers associations; in
some States, these programs are mandatory.  A trapper's license
permits the trapping of animals forbidden to unlicensed trappers.
Trappers interested in research asssociated with control and
management of wildlife populations and disease may take courses, or
even complete a degree program, in wildlife biology, wildlife
management, or related fields.

   Hunters and trappers must be in good health, possess physical
strength and stamina, and have the desire, patience, and ability to
work outdoors, sometimes for long periods, under difficult
conditions.  Maturity and judgment are important to deal with
hazards.  Good physical coordination and mechanical aptitude are
necessary to safely and skillfully use hunting weapons and trapping
equipment and to maintain camping and other gear.

   Some hunters are employed by the Federal or State governments to
work in such areas as predator control.  Other hunters who have
extensive experience may work as guides for hunting parties.  Those
with initiative, business skills, and the required capital may
become self-employed outfitters, some of whom own sites in the
wilds.  Outfitters organize hunting parties, select hunting areas,
and assume responsibility for the hunting expedition providing for
equipment and supplies, instructing the party members in hunting
techniques and safety measures, and overseeing leisure activities
during the expedition.  Most States require a hunter to obtain a
license in order to work as a hunting guide.

   Experienced trappers with the appropriate academic background may
enter other occupations, such as wildlife technician, or wildlife
refuge manager.  Professional trappers with business skills and
initiative may become self-employed fur traders.

Job Outlook

Overall, employment of fishers, hunters, and trappers is expected to
increase much more slowly than the average for all occupations
through the year 2005.  Hunting, fishing, and trapping occupations
depend on the natural ability of stock to replenish itself through
growth and reproduction.  Many operations are currently at or beyond
maximum sustainable yield, limiting potential for occupational
growth.  Most job openings will arise from the need to replace
workers who retire or leave the occupation for other reasons.  Some
fishers, hunters, and trappers leave the occupation because of the
strenuous and hazardous nature of the job, and the lack of steady,
year-round income.

   Different factors will affect employment among these occupations.
In many areas, particularly the North Atlantic, overfishing and
pollution have adversely affected the stock of fish and,
consequently, the demand for fishers.  However, this also has helped
spur the growth of a closely related field, aquaculture the raising
and harvesting of fish and other aquatic life in ponds or artificial
bodies of water for commercial purposes.  Aquaculture should be most
prominent in the South, where the climate is best suited for the
growth of most freshwater fish, except perhaps salmon and trout.

   Employment growth of fishers also may be somewhat restrained by the
growing number of large fishing vessels; the use of sophisticated
electronic equipment for navigation, communication, and fish
location; and improvements in fishing gear, which have greatly
increased the efficiency of fishing operations and have limited the
expansion in crew size.  Likewise, the use of highly automated
floating processors, where the catch is processed aboard the vessel,
may limit employment opportunities.  Sport fishing boats will
continue to provide some job opportunities.

   Limited growth is expected in the employment of hunters and
trappers.  The U.S.  Forest Service and State fish and wildlife
agencies may provide some jobs.  Some qualified hunters should be
able to obtain positions as hunting guides or outfitters, although
the work generally is seasonal.  Trapping activities increasingly
are becoming ancillary duties of wildlife scientists and technicians
and related workers.  Opportunities should be best for trappers in
pest control activities.

Earnings

Earnings of fishers, hunters, and trappers generally are highest in
the summer and fall when demand for their services peaks and
environmental conditions are favorable and lowest during the winter.
Many full-time and most part-time workers supplement their income by
working in other activities during the off-season.  For example,
fishers may work in seafood processing plants, establishments
selling fishing and marine equipment, or in construction.  Hunters
may work as self-employed guides, for an outfitter, or in stores
selling guns or hunting and related equipment.  Trappers may work in
stores selling trapping and related equipment.

   Earnings of fishers vary widely depending upon the specific
occupational function, the size of the ship, and the amount and
value of the catch.  The costs of the fishing operation operating
the ship, repair and maintenance of gear and equipment, and the
crew's supplies are deducted from the sale of the catch.  The net
proceeds are distributed among the crew members in accordance with a
prearranged percentage.  Generally, the ship's owner usually its
captain receives half of the net proceeds, which covers any profit
as well as the depreciation, maintenance, and replacement costs of
the ship.

Related Occupations

Numerous occupations involve outdoor activities similar to those of
fishers, hunters, and trappers.  Among these are zoo keepers,
loggers, animal control officers, forest rangers, fishing guides,
fish hatchery and aquaculture workers, game wardens, harbor pilots,
merchant marine officers and seamen, and wildlife management
specialists.

Sources of Additional Information

   For general information about fishing occupations, contact:

   National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Office of Fisheries
Conservation and Management, 1335 East-West Hwy., Silver Spring, MD
20910.

   Information about sport or recreational fishing occupations is
available from:

   Sport Fishing Institute, 1010 Massachusetts Ave.  NW., Washington,
DC 20001.

   Names of postsecondary schools offering fishing and related marine
educational programs are available from:

   Marine Technology Society, 1828 L St.  NW., Suite 906, Washington,
DC 20036-5104.

   Information on licensing of captains and mates and requirements for
merchant mariner documentation is available from the U.S.  Coast
Guard Marine Inspection Office or Marine Safety Office in your
State, or:

   Licensing and Evaluation Branch (G-MPV-2), U.S.  Coast Guard, 2100
Second St.  SW., Washington, DC 20593.

   For information about certified training programs for diving
(umbilical) careers, contact:

   College of Oceaneering, International Diving School, 272 S.  Fries
Ave., Wilmington, CA 90744.

   Information on licensing of hunting guides is available from the
department of fish and game in your State.