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Spearo Jobs??????

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
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fishimani

Leagues Deep
Dec 28, 2008
113
24
108
Alright everyone, i dont know if this question has been asked yet.....I am sure everyone knows about Cameron Kirconnel the "doggie" (dogtooth tuna) slayer....this dude is so lucky....single, lots of travel and most importantly lots of spearfishing. He has an unlimited tonnage captians license...friggin awesome.

on that note...

Everyone here on this forum has some odd job or another....which one is easiest to facilitate spearfishing. What do you guys do for a day job????

... I am in the military now, but i gotta rotate back to the world soon and i need to know what to look for.....

thanks

-pete
 
Reactions: nostres
I used to spearfish almost everyday when I was a student, then when I was free-lance, and then again during my good old part-time job days.
So to answer your question, the less you work, the more you dive. Unless you have a job such as:
- commercial spearfisher: in my country you may apply for a license to sell your catch and exceed the recreational harvest limits (the commercial spearo license entitles you to the same privileges as any other commercial fishery).
- spearfishing instructor- touristic dive boat captain.
- dive gear tester. :inlove
 
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Best job to facilitate spearing is bachelorhood :martial:inlove. Okay not exactly a job more a state of being but...hell of an advantage.

Self employed is good in that if you're not too bothered about money you can take off any and every time you want.

Teacher can get you long hol's and potentially short work days except that's b*llocks as teaching is much too hard work.

Quite a few surfers I know are postmen as they start at 5.30 am and therefore finish at midday-ish leaving every afternoon free to surf. Milkman and paper delivery workers might be similar.

Many people don't like working at something they enjoy so much as there is a conflict between pleasure and money. I know people who have been keen fishermen who have gone "commercial" and subsequently lost their love of fishing. It becomes a job and a means of making money not an enjoyment any more.

Dave.
 
Reactions: apneaboy
Nightshift jobs free up lots of time. I used to do night security. During the economic recession security jobs become important as factory breakins etc. become more widespread.
Any weekend job which cedits double time for unsocial hours is also useful. You need to be able to go diving whenever the sea conditions are right rather than hoping for good conditions on your day off.
 
Spearfishing/ Freediving/Scuba rep..... Works well for me, always a good excuse that I'm taking my clients out to test new equipment!

DD
 
this is easy for me to answer, since, i have been working on doing exactly what you are mentioning.first you gotta move somewhere that you can spear year round. . if you go exotic. there are tons of great spots, belize, honduras, comes to mind. but visiting home , relatives etc. can be a problem, plus, how you gonna support yourself ? if you do the obvious thing and be a dive instructor or boat captain, you will have to work when the weather is good, plus, like everyone says: if it is your JOB it will eventually become a drag. personally, i moved to key west so i could spearfish. i dont have the perfect job though. i only get weekends off. so i gotta hope for calm wind and good vis. seems like the best conditions are always during the work week. night jobs are one way to go, but then you need to sleep most of the day, plus, night jobs suck,(my opinion) the best thing is definately to be your own boss. that way you can take off when conditions are good, (providing you can AFFORD to do so) i have had to settle with trying to make as much $ as possible in a job that kinda sucks so i can afford to have a boat. i am a weekend warrior.sadly.but EVERY weekend. (even christmas last year.) but seriously the real deal is, you should become a beauty pagent judge,(they get lots of xtras!) or how about consultant (?) you could consult. or the best of all, marry a rich girl, game over. you win.
 
Reactions: mishu1984
depending were you are living working on a ski mountian is a great bet as you can do the night shift then spear during the day although if ur living in gaum snow would be a rare occurrence .im a building contractor/carpenter so i can work as little or as much as i like depending on how rich i i feel i need to be that month or i start early like 5 a.m then take off at 2:00 for some midday spearing my partner is an electrician so i have to convince him to play hooky.Another perk to the carpentry is it's a red seal trade so you can travel anywere in the world and work at a set rate of pay and be fully recognized as a carpenter regardless of the country you are in beacuase the training and principles are relativally similiar.
 
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I saw a film about some surfers who were bank robbers (point break) that would be good hours for spearing too rofl
 
Interesting about the posties. UPS in America had some sort of sponsorship of US olympic athletes - basically giving them delivery jobs that could presumably fit around their training schedules.

OMD already covered teaching. I was going to suggest teaching - because of the long Summer vacation - but I think that's a calling, and not for the faint hearted or uncommitted.

During the 90s it was a big thing, esp. in the US, to try to work in an area that you are passionate about. While it might be a good idea in some cases, as OMD points out, there are some potential pitfalls. Mainly doing something as a job can take the fun out of it. For hunting & fishing it might cause you to abandon your principles (if you have them) as paying the loan/mortgage/feeding the family/etc. takes precedence over ensuring sustainable fish stocks. The other problem can be that there just isn't enough money in it. For example, I read article my a top American female competition climber, who'd married a top French competition climber and wanted to come back to the US to "coach climbing"; to my knowledge, no such job exists and I hope it never will. A lot of people love climbing but the opportunities to make a living at it for more than a few years are few and far between. I know several people that own climbing walls but they all have (v. good) other jobs too. Becoming a guide is one way to go but its hard to qualify and a precarious way to make a living.

While I don't see anything intrinsically wrong with spearing professionally, I don't really wish to see it take off in a big way. Not much chance of that here in Britain, where it is illegal to sell speared fish. While spearing is probably the most selective way to fish, it is probably not the most cost efficient. I would think you'd need to target larger fish, maybe like the rig diving spearos in the USA, tuna spearos in SA, white bass fishermen in California or perhaps striped bass off the east coast of the US. While a few skippers make big money, I would think most smaller fishermen struggle to make a living. With shrinking fish stocks (esp. bigger, more mature fish) & increased international competition, things might get harder (while the world population & its appetite for fish is increasing ).
 
Reactions: spaghetti
Mr X Never fails to blow my friggin mind. Thank you.

I am aware of how horrible teaching can be especially at the high school level...my parents were teachers for over 20 years and still counting. Too stressfull. Commercial spearing sounds like a lonely and sporadic income type of gig. Self employment sounds like the way to go unless you become way too married to your business. I was thinking that perhaps a charter is the way to go, anyone own one or know about that sort of operations' ups and downs?

-Pete

P.S. The local people here eat turtles, they ask me to catch them for them so they can eat them....i will never do that......also i dont like killing octopus...too intelligent and curious. Another one of those things i dont do....so you see....there is some morality left in spearing......
 
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Commercial spearos don't make big money but it's a "scelta di vita" (choice of life) to match their passion for the sea with the grim urge of gouging out a living.
Anyway it's not for everyone. First because (at least in my country) there's a tight "cap" on the amount of licenses that can be appointed. Second, because you need some really exceptional skills to make it profitable. Fish are deep and rare over here (and not for the spearos' fault). You must catch the "quality" ones (grouper, dentex, gilthead: of course you cant' make a buisiness on speared grey mullets or wrasse that are not an easy sell). You target fish with a high value on the market, and they are the deepest fish, and the most difficult to catch (at least in our waters).
If you do it for fun it is always inspirational, but if you have to do it cause you're tight on the rent, on a cold rainy day, or when you're sick, diving 30 meters deep or more because you have to.....well I think it's not for everyone.
 
Great thread! i can tell you what NOT to do! work for a corporation! unless you'll be based in the caribean somewhere
 
Reactions: spaghetti
first and foremost. you gotta move to where spearing is accessible.year round!that is the big one. alot of places that people think of as good spearing places, the water is undivable most of the year. if it really is your dream and not just a passing hobby. the choice is clear! most "spearos" i meet, only go out during the summer, only on weekend and only if the weather is good.(all that rarely happens at the same time) but in their mind they are dedicated to this and do it " all the time"i have a couple of buddies like that. the other day i asked one of my friends
"when was the last time you went out?" after thinking about it he realized that he hasnt been out at all for 6 to 9 months or more! it becomes a question of priorities. to me: i put spearing above almost everything. seems like most people only go if there is nothing else planned. it is last on the list. if you are one of those people, it wont matter what your job is. you still wont go out much. and if you live somewhere cold you will go even less. but if you are like most people, 2 to 4 times a year is plenty . i personally go 2 to 6 times a month,(mostly because it is so easy , (because of where i live). but i MOVED here i wasnt born here. i came here so i can dive alot. it works.! if i was rich i would dive 5 days a week at least! just move somwhere that you can dive alot, and you will. move somewhere cold and you will mostly procrastinate.
 
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Reactions: Mr. X and apneaboy

That is a long paragraph to include '2 to 6 times a month' and 'you will mostly procrastinate' in both together rofl
 
fishimani said:
...Self employment sounds like the way to go unless you become way too married to your business. I was thinking that perhaps a charter is the way to go, anyone own one or know about that sort of operations' ups and downs?...
Click to expand...
That reminds me, I once read of a French climber who was a computer contractor. He took 6 month contracts in the off season and climbed full-time in season -- can't imagine many "employers" liking that but perhaps he found a niche or just took short term contracts at different places.

Similarlt I met a guy trying to ice-climb on the Grand Teton in the Summer (the Black Ice Couloir often remains in the shade). He was tax accountant (CPA?) and reckoned he only worked in the tax season and then took the rest of the year off for climbing.

Re. charters, I think a forum member's father runs an angling charter in the UK. I think it was Shiny (Shiny catches bass, big ones, frequently).
 
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