Heys guys, A long time follower of the conversations on here making my first post. I am just looking for some input on the fishing industry and factory trawlers specifically. A large settle based company has reached out to me with a job opportunity (2nd assistant Engineer) and I would just like some more information on the industry (living conditions, typical rotation, watch hours etc…) I currently work on offshore tugs and have since I graduated from the academy in 2018. I have been looking to make the switch for a while now to gain more experience with various equipment and am just not sure if fishing is the right step in my career. Thank you for whatever advise you can help with
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Which academy?
Is the company American Seafoods?
Most factory boats are 6X6 or 12X12, you’ll likely share a room, you will likely gain a lot of experience, the money will be OK, but not great, frankly I would take the berth, shipping is slow right now and turning down a paycheck is a bad plan.
What papers do you hold?
How are you at electrical repairs, refrigeration? Can you weld? Fabricate?
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I’m currently a 2nd Engineer on a factory trawler fishing for Pollock in Alaska. Our daily shifts are 12/12 either 2 to 2 or 8 to 8. The room is comfortable. The oiler and I share but we are opposite shift so we get it to ourselves. It has a private bathroom, tv, couch and twin bed. We try to keep rotations somewhere around 60 days on/off although it is fishing so you need to be flexible.
If you graduated from an Academy, I’m assuming you have at least a 3rds unlimited right? You only need a QMED for the 2nds spot but having a higher licence means you would be getting paid more.
As far as daily duties, I’m responsible for boiler chemistry, managing bilge wastes and sludge and burning any waste oil in the incinerator. After that there’s always projects to be worked on.
As far as your future career, if you want to get hands on experience fishing boats are a great place to get it. There’s lots of machinery onboard so you’ll have lots of chances to learn. You also get 1.5 days seatime for every day since we work 12 hour days.
Let me know if you have any other questions
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If you don’t mind my asking, what is a 2A/E making on a dragger these days?
Also not sure what happened, but Emerson207 answered and stated he is a graduate of SUNY and holds a 2A/E unlimited, but that post seems to have vanished
That was in a message @DavidMT Maine grad just upgrading to a 2a/e. Thanks again guys for your input.
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