Sharing the Catch

Family ties, a common way of life, and risk and responsibility influence apportioning the rewards of fishing. In some areas, the entire community shares the catch; in others, the crew divides it.

Unloading swordfish
Sesimbra, Portugal, mid-1980s
photo © Louis Goldman/Photo Researchers, Inc.

Fishing, Bering Sea
Most fishermen around the world allot profits from the catch by "shares." Owners may get as much as half; the crew divides the rest. Skippers get two or three shares. The crew gets quarter, half, or full shares, based on their experience.
photo © Mark J. Rauzon

Cleaning the catch (brown pelicans are interested, too)
Galapagos Islands
photo © C. J. Collins/Photo Researchers, Inc.

Annual harvest of awa (milk fish)
Christmas Island, Eastern Indian Ocean, 1982
photo © Mark J. Rauzon

Ocean Planet Exhibition Floorplan

gene carl feldman (gene@seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov) (301) 286-9428

Judith Gradwohl, Smithsonian Institution (Curator/Ocean Planet)