[third party article] - Make Small Fortune In Fishing Industry… ….now there is a headline you don’t see very often. In fact, I have never seen it.

Unless you start out with a large fortune and slowly pitter it away while in pursuit of our friends who live beneath the waves, most people don’t enter the exciting world of the fishing industry to seek fame and fortune. There are rarely any recruiters from Salmon canneries knocking on your door as you bask in the glory of graduation from college, nor do you pick up a copy of Entrepeneur Magazine and find" fisherman" as a hot start-up franchise. Guys wearing lots of "bling" and chest waders rarely come sloshing into your business and hand you a business card and brochure claiming that: "for a $10,000 investment I can help you triple your income in thirty days…GUARANTEED!!"

In fact, I even googled "Make Money Fishing" and came away with 313 responses and the disheartening notion that if you choose fishing as a way of life–you are pretty much destined for a life of relaxed mediocrity. There of course are some exceptions, like tournament bass fisherman, or guys selling fishing adventures to Mars–but for the most part –if you have some startling epiphany that "I want to make my fortune in fishing"- you are barking up the wrong riffle.

Some other samples from the make money fishing offerings:

1. Russ Roy– Offers up a slightly "tongue in cheek" article, stating that we fisherman can earn extra cash slathering stinky fish attractants and fish "sputem" on our jeans and then resell them on perhaps ebay as "designer fisher wear". Complete with fish hook holes. I only say slightly "tongue in cheek"–because they probably would sell — especially in some posh Beverly Hills boutique on Rodeo drive.

"Oh dahling, those salmon roe encrusted Jordaches make your tush look devine!!"

Heck, throw in a "roostertail" 1/4 ounce zipper and I might buy a pair myself.

2. A New England commercial fisherman is selling his fishing operation–He is "grossing" about $80K per year and claims a "cash flow" of $53k. Asking price $105k.

The "hook" here is the benefit of leaving the rat race for the "open seas". I have to ask myself," does this mean he wants to re-enter the rat race??" Health issues force sale?? Wear funky woolen sweaters!

NO THANKS!

Oh and by the way– it is a one man operation–so have fun running around that boat and giving orders to yourself, or you can hire someone and pretty much watch your $53k disappear.

No fortune there.

3. Make your own fishing lures– This might give you some self satisfaction, or relieve some tension–which in itself might be a nice benefit for the rest of society- and I suppose if you can get $3.00 a lure you can actually triple your income as a current fly tier…However, I doubt you are going to make a fortune, unless you can break into a already saturated market of fishing lure producers or you live to be 116 and can sell them on ebay as "antiques".

I really couldn’t find any bonafide "get rich in fishing" schemes, except for the tournament fisherman offerings, which pretty much isn’t considered fishing at that point.

Not even an MLM scheme– "You see, you buy 12 fish and send them to each of the Kingfishers in your UPLINE– and then you move up from carp level!!" –"When you move to the top of the "pyramid anchor"and become a "Marlin" you will then receive 64,000 FISH in your mailbox!"

Are you in?

So I guess we fishermen will have to retreat to the "zen-minimalist" philosophy of : less is more, if we want to consider ourselves "wealthy" or "rich".

At least by fishing standards, we can consider ourselves rich in outdoor experiences, or having a wealth of fishing knowledge. Not to mention, that the Toyota Chinook camper is paid for!!

According to my good friend"Webster" fortune is defined as :prosperity attained partly through luck… AND who knows more about luck than a fisherman!!!

So, keep trying to sell those Rolex imatations, cheap pharmaceuticals, and"secrets" to success on ebay.

The competition is a lot less in:" the road to fishing riches" market. Which can only lead to a lot of "downtime", which can certainly be filled with….. FISHING!

Besides, I have never heard it said that: "the time spent selling cialis on the internet is not deducted from one’s life"–have you?

click here to read "Is there money in fishing?"

A.J. Klott

Author, writer of fishing humor,and "fly tack" peddler.A.J. writes about the people,characters and modern day events that surround the fishing world. His first book is due out in December of 2005. If you need a laugh or a fun gift, visit his website at: http://www.twoguyswithflys.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=A.J._Klott

The idea of there being money in fishing seems to be something of a joke. I decided to do some research to find out if it’s possible to make a fortune in fishing. Googling "Is there money in Fishing?" brought up a list of results. The first took me to the website Ripleys.com via a link titled "There’s money in fishing". That link points to a post made on March 28, 2007, but the post does not address the ability to make money operating a fishery or otherwise engaging in the business of fishing. It shares stories about missing wallets that got recovered while fishing. Some of the stories included:

IN 1985 ROBERT HOWLEY, FISHING IN NEW HAMPSHIRE‘S LAKE WINNIPESAKEE, LOST HIS WALLET BUT GOT IT BACK INTACT FOUR YEARS LATER AFTER IT WAS FOUND BY A SCUBA DIVER!

MRS. WB BERNARD HOOKED A WALLET CONTAINING $97.00 LOST BY HER HUSBAND WHILE FISHING - 15 MONTHS BEFORE - CYPRESS GARDENS, SC

James Lubeck of Connecticut had his credit cards and the remains of his wallet returned by a fisherman- 39 years after he lost them in the ocean! [source]

I suppose the "ripley’s.com" should have tipped me off that this was not going to be a source for serious information on fishing as a business and whether or not it’s possible to become a fishing billionaire. The next link I clicked on was titled, "Make Money Money With Fishing"; but my visit to the page linked to didn’t turn up anything having to do with the fishing industry either. What I came to was the following text:

This probably isn’t the most easiest strategy to start, but I did notice that once I started it, I made quite a lot of gold. Basically, what you’ll be doing is, selling savory deviate delights, which sell for 50s on most servers. Ok, since this takes steps, I’m going to provide them now

1. You must have a cooking skill of 85, and a fishing skill of 30 (? you’ll be fishing in the walling caverns, I don’t think it needs to be very high, people on thottbot said it has to be 30)

2. Once you have those two down, you’ll need the recipe called Savory Deviate Delight. You can get it by grinding various mobs in The Barrens, or, you can do what I did, and buy it in the AH for about 30-40g. Here is the link http://thottbot.com/?I=678

3. Now you’re ready, head over to the barrens, and go to the walling caverns, an instance in the barrens (levels 18-21 I think). If you’re alliance than make sure you’re higher level so the noobs there won’t try to attack you. [source]

Having no idea what that was all about, I returned to the search results, visiting the next link which took me to an article discussing how the lure of money will result in an emptying of the oceans. The article, written by Mark Brazil for the Japanese Times Online, addresses overfishing and the predicted collapse of all commercial fisheries within the next 40 years. Writes Brazil of the reason commercial fisheries are predicted to collapse:

We will have simply consumed them all. Fish farming doesn’t even begin to make up the shortfall. Only reduced consumption, fixed quotas in managed systems, and sustainable fishing levels can save many marine species from extinction. [source]

And this seems to provide a quick answer to the question of whether or not there is money in fishing. Well, if the oceans become empty and there’s no fish to sustain a fishing industry, well, then one can assume it wouldn’t be the wisest thing to get started in commercial fishing at a time when commercial fishing is on it’s way to becoming obsolete. That doesn’t mean people currently active in commercial fishing aren’t making money. But it might be a good idea to thoroughly investigate the state of commercial fishing if you’re considering possibly trying to make money in fishing.

The state of the fishing industry

A future without fish? - NEW YORK (Fortune) — Remember The Marvellettes’ song, "Too Many Fish in the Sea?" Well, there aren’t. Off New England, a centuries-old tradition of cod fishing is pretty much over. Blue fin tuna are severely overfished, according to the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch. [read more]

Overcapitalization in the U.S. Commercial Fishing Industry - Eugene H. Buck

Living marine resources — fish and shellfish — are among the economically dominant features of the world’s oceans as well as vital sources of protein for the world’s people. However, the sustainability of these essential resources is at risk. As a result of increased demands for fish products and expansion of fishing fleets, many traditional fisheries around the world are now depleted.

As with many nations, U.S. marine fisheries managers have struggled to maximize harvests while maintaining productive stocks. Early attempts at management were compromised by largely unregulated foreign and domestic fleets. By 1976, the overexploitation of several stocks in offshore U.S. waters led to the passage of the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MFCMA), with the prevention of overfishing acknowledged as the first of the Act’s seven national standards for new fishery management plans.

Since 1976, increases of 40 percent in the number of fishing vessels and 60 percent in the number of fishermen employed in commercial fisheries have yielded an increase of 50 percent in catches. Such growth, largely attributable to higher levels of consumer demand, government encouragement and assistance, and technological advances, has given U.S. fishermen continued incentive to further expand their capacity to fish. Capital invested in this expansion, however, has not yielded the anticipated returns. By 1993, 65 of a total 231 U.S. marine fish stocks were classified as overfished with the livelihood of the Nation’s fishermen becoming as threatened as the fish they seek. With too many fishermen vying for too few fish, the U.S. commercial fishing industry is becoming as overcapitalized as the resource is overfished. [source]

Click here for an interesting article on making money in fishing