4 ms·

It is a seasonal thing to take vacationers fishing. Charge $1000 a trip, maybe fish 80 days a year accounting for weather. After expenses there isn’t much lef

It is a seasonal thing to take vacationers fishing. Charge $1000 a trip, maybe fish 80 days a year accounting for weather. After expenses there isn’t much left over. It is a labor of love. How much do you think people who guide people on backpacking camping trips earn? I have been a mate on charter boats. My pay was $100 plus $100 expected tip. The workday was 14 hours long. Any fish caught couldn’t be sold commercially. Taking people out fishing is not a lucrative career but it does provide work for people who lost their jobs commercial fishing.

doodlebugging 4y ago
Using a website where ordinary Joes like myself can book charter boats [0] at various ports from Texas around The GoM to the Atlantic seashore, where the article was focused, doesn't support the article's contention that they do all this work and only make $26000/year. In fact it is a bit preposterous. As a mate onboard you may not get the big bucks but someone is making bank here. As far as backpacking camping trips go if you book through a normal site like through REI [1] they can be pretty expensive depending on duration, destination, etc since there is a lot of logistical stuff that has to be handled. It is not cheap, in the thousands per person for multi-day operations. I have not personally booked a trip like that since I lived in a tent in Nat'l Parks, motel parking lots, KOA or similar campgrounds off and on for several years. I can do my own thing and don't need assistance. Same thing goes for whitewater rafting trips. The costs range from really low for half-day trips to thousands for multi-day trips. A good friend of mine has been river guiding in Idaho since the late 1970's. I would think that if he had been in danger of failing in that business that he would have fallen back on his college degree in the sciences years ago. I have rafted several of the great rivers in the western US and it is fantastic fun. [2] [0] https://fishingbooker.com/ https://fishingbooker.com/ [1] https://www.rei.com/adventures/a/backpacking https://www.rei.com/adventures/a/backpacking [2] https://www.iwuraft.com/ https://www.iwuraft.com/ I don't see that $26000 annual income is relevant for anyone except the lowest paid seasonal guide. That has to be a low number.
- mistrial9 4y ago
  you would be surprised how cheap some employers get to be .. when you get into other international jurisdictions.. well it appears here regularly that on-board fishing and some cargo ship practices are a modern holdout for actual slavery. Indentured or forced labor has been the norm not the exception, for a very long time in many parts of the world.
  - doodlebugging 4y ago
    I've read about this. Cruise ships, fishing fleets, etc all seem to have an unsavory back story.
- jcampbell1 4y ago
  It doesn’t say “annual income”, or “annual revenue”. It is “net income” which is not always well defined for small businesses. It is roughly defined as the amount of money you would expect to make running this operation after paying employees. What is the “net income” of owning a subway sandwich franchise? It is not the same concept as employee pay or revenue.
  - doodlebugging 4y ago
    I wasn't trying to argue, just to point out that the numbers make no sense even as an average number across the whole charter industry. Income reported on various websites scatters widely from under $20k to over $300k depending on where you are on the totem pole. With many of these jobs being paid on a day rate I can see where your income potential is limited depending on where you are, which species pass through your area versus the ones that are native and whether you limit yourself to specific species or go any time a client books a trip. Looks like a complex industry. I only have personal experience from one offshore trip out of Coos Bay a long time ago on a boat full of people wanting to fish. We had to book well in advance and it was less than a full day outing. We did catch fish though.

doodlebugging 4y ago

Using a website where ordinary Joes like myself can book charter boats [0] at various ports from Texas around The GoM to the Atlantic seashore, where the article was focused, doesn't support the article's contention that they do all this work and only make $26000/year. In fact it is a bit preposterous. As a mate onboard you may not get the big bucks but someone is making bank here. As far as backpacking camping trips go if you book through a normal site like through REI [1] they can be pretty expensive depending on duration, destination, etc since there is a lot of logistical stuff that has to be handled. It is not cheap, in the thousands per person for multi-day operations. I have not personally booked a trip like that since I lived in a tent in Nat'l Parks, motel parking lots, KOA or similar campgrounds off and on for several years. I can do my own thing and don't need assistance. Same thing goes for whitewater rafting trips. The costs range from really low for half-day trips to thousands for multi-day trips. A good friend of mine has been river guiding in Idaho since the late 1970's. I would think that if he had been in danger of failing in that business that he would have fallen back on his college degree in the sciences years ago. I have rafted several of the great rivers in the western US and it is fantastic fun. [2] [0] https://fishingbooker.com/ https://fishingbooker.com/ [1] https://www.rei.com/adventures/a/backpacking https://www.rei.com/adventures/a/backpacking [2] https://www.iwuraft.com/ https://www.iwuraft.com/ I don't see that $26000 annual income is relevant for anyone except the lowest paid seasonal guide. That has to be a low number.

mistrial9 4y ago
you would be surprised how cheap some employers get to be .. when you get into other international jurisdictions.. well it appears here regularly that on-board fishing and some cargo ship practices are a modern holdout for actual slavery. Indentured or forced labor has been the norm not the exception, for a very long time in many parts of the world.
- doodlebugging 4y ago
  I've read about this. Cruise ships, fishing fleets, etc all seem to have an unsavory back story.
jcampbell1 4y ago
It doesn’t say “annual income”, or “annual revenue”. It is “net income” which is not always well defined for small businesses. It is roughly defined as the amount of money you would expect to make running this operation after paying employees. What is the “net income” of owning a subway sandwich franchise? It is not the same concept as employee pay or revenue.
- doodlebugging 4y ago
  I wasn't trying to argue, just to point out that the numbers make no sense even as an average number across the whole charter industry. Income reported on various websites scatters widely from under $20k to over $300k depending on where you are on the totem pole. With many of these jobs being paid on a day rate I can see where your income potential is limited depending on where you are, which species pass through your area versus the ones that are native and whether you limit yourself to specific species or go any time a client books a trip. Looks like a complex industry. I only have personal experience from one offshore trip out of Coos Bay a long time ago on a boat full of people wanting to fish. We had to book well in advance and it was less than a full day outing. We did catch fish though.