fish work
 

to PhotoDad:
I saw a post about your working in Homer, Alaska. My daughter will graduate from college in May and she and a friend are looking into working in Alaska in a fish cannery or whatever. She's begun checking out some websites that promise job listings.
Is that the best way for her to find a job up there. They would like to go work there in June through approximately October. Is that feasible?
ANY help you can give would be most appreciated.
Thanks.
Kay

There's plenty of mythology about fish cannery jobs. There are not what they used to be -- and even then they weren't all what a lot of folks expected. Money isn't a legendary as the stories are.

That said, there's plenty of other seasonal employment, but not a lot of big bucks work.

What I know is hearsay only (living in Seattle) but I encourage you to *seriously* help her investigate before getting into something like this.

Suze: Can you elaborate? I am worried about my daughter and her friend getting in an unsafe/unsavory situation.
This is the kind of 'adventure' that, to me, is probably more hype than substance and it sounds like you may know or at least have heard something about it.
Please respond.
Thanks.

Having been around a lot of Alaska canneries (which is something of a generic term for shore-based processing plants, as many now don't can anything) my view is that it's very dependent on which plant, which owner, which species, which months...

June through October generally means salmon, and conditions in many shore plants can be tough, especially if the workers aren't used to very long hours and hard physical work, surrounded by noisy and potentially dangerous machinery. First timers in can operations will usually end up on the aptly-named slime line, clad in yellow raincoats, gutting and cleaning a bazillion fish.

The pay for newbies is usually around $7-8/hour and $11-12 for OT. Work is 6 or 7 days a week. Many firms will allow very small cash draws ($50-$100 a week), and most will reimburse transportation to and from the plant (usually from Seattle or Anchorage) provided you work out the full season - leaving early means you eat the airfare.

Time was when some of the canneries were a little scary - heavy-handed management, corrupt unions, drugs and gambling in the bunkhouses... Can't say it's all in the past, but a lot of improvements in many areas. Many young people still happily do the work, have the adventure, and a few even come back a second or third time. A few.

While my experience is secondhand, I totally agree with Suze. I considered this myself when in college, but two of my guy friends who did this one summer said that women who worked there were victimized as there was no one looking out for them. In addition, the work and hours were totally horrible, and the money (while good back then) wasn't worth it.

I have an adventurous spirit, but I never heard anything positive about this particular seasonal job.

Sounds like counter wprk at MickeyD's - or practically anything else - would be just as profitable and a lot less nasty/uncomfortable.

Gardyloo is right on. Newbies very often end up in the slime line and you'll not get that smell out of your senses for months. Plus the demographic has changed dramatically over the years -- not nearly as many college kids and more of those desperate for jobs that many others don't want.

It wasn't that great "back in the day" and it's not any better now.

I cannot imagine a worse job for two young females.

Two friends of my college-age son, both female, did this a couple of years ago. They were miserable and tried to leave in the middle of the summer but couldn't afford to. The fishing/processing industry is not a good place for girls.

There are lots of good ways for college kids to go and have an Alaskan adventure, working in the tourist industry. Try the national park concessioners, tour companies, etc.

But beware---she may never come home! I went up to work in Denali for a summer . . . and stayed nine years.

Working in a fish cannery sounds like a horrid job for anyone! Why are they interested in doing that? I'd wait tables if I were her. Lots of money in tips, and usually you can find a job pretty quickly. Not sure about Alaska, but I'd look for any other job than a yechy slimy fish cannery. Eeeyeww.
:)>-

Kay, I am only repeating what is considered "common knowledge" here in Seattle. I have no personal experience nor do I know anyone who has actually done it themselves. Fish cannery work has a horrible reputation, bad conditions, pay nothing special, etc. It is about the LAST place I would send two young women on their own.

Can't they get waitress jobs?
:-) (Only partly kidding!)

I work in the Alaska fishing industry. If this were my relative, I would strongly encourage her to rethink this idea. Unless her idea of "adventure" is long hours of filthy, stinky, boring labor in unpleasant conditions for not a whole lot of money.

As others have said, the romance of the fishing industry is largely a myth.

Plus there's the cost of living.

I remember on a cruise to Alaska and stopping in Skagway. Normal population is only a few hundred, but in the summer the population of Skagway increases by several thousand. We saw a tent city (and I mean tents in a muddy field!) where the summer workers "lived" and the per person rate for a space in a tent was exorbitant.

Far better for your kids to find a job in the lower 48. Plenty of summer-only jobs in vacation areas.

Might the girls consider a summer job with one of the cruise lines? We met a lot of college kids on the train and in the towns who came to Alaska just for the summer and made quite a bit of money.
http://www.princessjobs.com/

Another great summer adventure is Mackinac Island, Michigan. It is an island with no cars at the tip of Michigan's lower peninsula. All the restaurants take on seasonal help in the summer. She could waitress there or drive a horse tour or a host of better things than gutting fish.

You didn't mention WHY the girls are intersted in this 'adventure' in particular in the first place. Do they know others who have done it? I'm all for risk-taking and whacky schemes at that age, but this proposition is grueling.

Hmm, somehow I can't see many "adventures" on Mackinac matching Alaska (and I was born in Mich.) It's a major downgrade.

There are still great summer jobs up there that don't involve fish guts or tent cities. But very few these days bring in a lot of money. If they mention "The Great Alaska Bush Company," however, then you can worry.

Thanks to everyone for your input on this question.
After I emailed all the responses to my daughter, and she showed it to her friend, they have wisely decided to come up with Plan B!
In answer to someone's question as to why they had even considered it, they had heard from someone that there was the opportunity to make a lot of money. They are hoping to go to New Zealand after they save up some money. So, that is what precipitated this whole discussion.
Once again, thanks to everyone of you for taking the time to give me this information.

Plan B.

Go to a summer beach resort and get waitressing jobs. Have the time of their lives, save a bunch of money, and make a lot of new friends.

Myrtle Beach, Ocean City MD, just about anywhere up and down the East Coast.