From the blood and guts fish disassembly on the slime lines, to the dock crews that unload the fish from the boats, these are the true stories of the Filipinos, Mexicans, Africans, ex-cons and other derelicts from the Lower 48, who come to Alaska each summer to work as fish processors during the three month salmon season.
Set at a cannery in a small town in southern Alaska, meet One-Eyed Eddie, Al the crew chief, the half-wit Keith, Menter the Iraqi, Jorge, Francisco and others. Read of dangerous, backbreaking work inside and outside the cannery, 20 hour days for weeks on end, forklift and machinery accidents, drunkenness and drug use, rapes, assaults, and one very violent death on the dock.
Included are appendices containing practical information on:
- Types of fish and long line fishing
- How much you should expect to earn during salmon season and other fishing seasons (pollock, herring, halibut, pacific cod and black cod)
- How to secure unemployment compensation after the season and maximize your benefits
- How to get hired as a deckhand on a commercial fishing boat
- A list of land and floating fish processors in Alaska and Washington
