Aubrey Banfield
Chapter 7
You can’t beat being out here. You’ve got to be a sea lover obviously, but at the end of the day, everything’s a surprise. I can have exceptional
days or I can get nothing. But every day is a new day. It’s not just the same old shit.
The icing on the cake, in terms of job satisfaction, is a good catch and it’s also important for me to do what I want to do. I’ve spent the last 24
years, pretty much doing what I want, but not at the pace I want to do it at, because of the constraints of other people. With fishing, if I want
to go out, I go. If I don’t want to go out, I don’t have to.
In the first three years of fishing, I didn’t make a penny. After the first three years, and with the input, knowledge and help of the other
fishermen, I started making money. It gets better every year. It’s the same as any business venture. If you expect to make money in the first
year, dream on. But I didn’t go into it with my eyes shut, I knew it was going to be a hard slog.
The only thing that will stop me fishing is if I can’t make it pay for itself. But I think it’ll work and I’ll keep going until retirement. I’ve always
had a love of the sea. I’m living the dream. I’m going to work every day and I’m actually going fishing!
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