10 STUDIES OF OCCUPATIONS IN AGRICULTURE 



in the industry has always provided the best sailors for the 

 merchant marine in each country. Fishing is one of our im- 

 portant national industries. 



The term fisherman is here used as meaning a life pursuit, 

 not a recreation. 



2. Work done: Preparing and caring for fishing lines, nets, and 

 other apparatus; studying fish culture and the habits of fish; 

 building and sailing boats and fishing vessels; fishing on small 

 streams, rivers, lakes, gulfs, on coast waters, or on the deep 

 sea; curing, preserving, and marketing fish products. 



The greatest development in recent years in the work of 

 fishing is the beam trawler used on the deep sea, which in a 

 sense has introduced the factory method into the fishing in- 

 dustry. 



3. Advantages: Out-of-door life; freedom in controlling one's 

 own activities, except, for instance, when employed upon a 

 fishing vessel; the opportunity to secure fresh fish for one's own 

 family. 



4. Disadvantages: The discomforts of working in inclement 

 weather, or at night on land or sea; the extreme hazards of 

 deep-sea fishing and of life in the Arctic regions; the uncer- 

 tainty of success in particular times and seasons; the unat- 

 tractive environment and associations usually attached to the 

 occupation; the coarse fare and poor quarters generally pro- 

 vided on fishing vessels; the isolation and narrowness of life 

 in the small fishing community, although the great bulk of 

 commercial fishing is now done from big ports like Boston, 

 Gloucester, New York, and Seattle. 



5. Preparation: For ordinary fishing no training is required ex- 

 cept such as comes by long practice. For fish culture scientific 

 training in a technical school, including the study of biology, is 

 desirable. For commanding a fishing vessel a knowledge of 

 navigation, such as is provided by a nautical school or long ex- 

 perience at sea, is necessary. 



6. Other requirements: Good health and strength; a fair grade 

 of intelligence to understand the problems of the occupation; 

 courage to meet its dangers; for deep-sea fishing, some knowl- 

 edge of sea-faring life. 



