SquidMarks Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 I was thrown a question by the generation z's (is that what they are called now?) about how would yo go about becoming starting a career working on a commercial fishing boat as a deckhand (eventually i guess to become a fisherman) and i realised that i wouldnt have the slightest clue (bar hanging around the trawlers and asking for work). The question really threw me off so i got to looking and i found a bit of information and maybe a qualification or two which may help such as this Cert I in Maritime operations https://www.seaschool.com.au/commercial-certificate-courses/gph-deckhand (though i believe this has more to do with working on ferries etc). I know this site has a lot of knowledgeable people and at least a couple who at one point or another worked as commercial fishermen/deckhands and i guess im just curious as to what do i say to the younger generations when they ask me that question? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelm Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 Some local TAFEs run deckhand and Coxswains theory courses, lots of boats will put you on under their licence (depending on the type of commercial operation) but lots will require the deckhands qualification. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zmk1962 Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 8 hours ago, SquidMarks said: I was thrown a question by the generation z's (is that what they are called now?) about how would yo go about becoming starting a career working on a commercial fishing boat as a deckhand (eventually i guess to become a fisherman) and i realised that i wouldnt have the slightest clue (bar hanging around the trawlers and asking for work). The question really threw me off so i got to looking and i found a bit of information and maybe a qualification or two which may help such as this Cert I in Maritime operations https://www.seaschool.com.au/commercial-certificate-courses/gph-deckhand (though i believe this has more to do with working on ferries etc). I know this site has a lot of knowledgeable people and at least a couple who at one point or another worked as commercial fishermen/deckhands and i guess im just curious as to what do i say to the younger generations when they ask me that question? Reach out to @JonD from memory his daughter just obtained her coxswain licence. cheers Zoran Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquibblyDibbly Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 (edited) Sea school are good mate, you can get your exemption 38 (lowest level coxswain) in a day. If you're not in a hurry you can jump in a with a group and get it done using their boat for not a ridiculous amount of money. They can do the boat license at the same time if they dont have that either. The lower level coxswain is pretty limited as to what you can do as a captain (no paid passengers, no working at night, boat size limitations) but would be a good start. From what I've read that cert 1 in maritime operations is what you need to start as a deckie on a 12m+ boat. Like most industries revolving around physical labour they will struggle to find good people these days. I'd be calling and speaking to companies, I'm sure if the person has work ethic and presents well it wouldnt be hard to get a start somewhere. Edited February 2, 2021 by SquibblyDibbly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve-o Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 When I first left school I tried to get a job as a deckhand on a fishing boat. There used to be two or three ads a week on the jobsearch.gov.au website, but that website doesn't exist anymore. Most of the ones I went for were departing the Wollongong area for two or three weeks at sea one week shore leave. Occasionally you would see jobs departing Darwin or Broome. I never ended up getting a start and I got one call back. Maybe I applied for ten jobs? The same ones would reappear every week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest123456789 Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 Wouldn’t you just do what Benjamin Button did? Hang around the ports and wait for someone to call in sick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquibblyDibbly Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 1 hour ago, Steve-o said: When I first left school I tried to get a job as a deckhand on a fishing boat. There used to be two or three ads a week on the jobsearch.gov.au website, but that website doesn't exist anymore. Most of the ones I went for were departing the Wollongong area for two or three weeks at sea one week shore leave. Occasionally you would see jobs departing Darwin or Broome. I never ended up getting a start and I got one call back. Maybe I applied for ten jobs? The same ones would reappear every week. Yeh I'd imagine most would be hesitant to take greenhorns out to sea, you can only imagine the bad experiences some would have. Perhaps trying to get some experience on a ferry or smaller charter would be a good place to start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve-o Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 (edited) 2 minutes ago, SquibblyDibbly said: Yeh I'd imagine most would be hesitant to take greenhorns out to sea, you can only imagine the bad experiences some would have. Perhaps trying to get some experience on a ferry or smaller charter would be a good place to start. Sydney ferries are a really hard industry to crack. I did end up working as a deckie for a little while but not on a fishing boat. Edited February 2, 2021 by Steve-o Auto correct changed a word Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankS Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 Weipa prawn trawlers is your best bet to get a start once you have the basics down pat and the necessary documents. That is IF you don't mind hard work and going to Qld. Frank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renegade460 Posted February 3, 2021 Share Posted February 3, 2021 (edited) I know a couple of people that have done their Coxian through Marine Rescue. Join up and work through what you need to do. Edited February 3, 2021 by Renegade460 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquidMarks Posted February 4, 2021 Author Share Posted February 4, 2021 Thanks for all the info guys, at least i can point them in the right direction now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonD Posted February 5, 2021 Share Posted February 5, 2021 On 2/3/2021 at 7:52 AM, zmk1962 said: Reach out to @JonD from memory his daughter just obtained her coxswain licence. cheers Zoran Yes that's right she gained her coxswain 1 and then want on to get her masters for bigger vessels. I believe the commercial fishing qualification is coxswain 2 which is a shorter easier course. Theres also a deckhand qualification for general hands on any vessel. Gaining a coxswain through marine rescue is slightly different and would take a fair time longer in my opinion. Marine rescue don't recognise the AMSA coxswain and AMSA don't recognise marine rescues version (or so I was told during my training) also when I joined marine rescues after completing my coxswains I was told I would have to do it again through them so I dropped out of marine rescue. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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