A big part of my job is driving around looking for pictures. Very often I can drive for hours and not get a single photograph. However, this day was different. I decided to take a chance in the small fishing village of Union Hall and I wasn’t disappointed.

A trawler, called ‘Emerald Isle I’ was being prepared for a 16 day trip to fish for prawns. I captured pictures of the crew, the food, the nets and even managed a photo of the skipper in the wheelhouse.

*Skipper of Emerald Isle I ‘Smiling Johnny’ as he likes to be called, in the wheelhouse.*

Luckily, the crew of the trawler were very amenable and didn’t mind having their picture taken

*Just some of the crew of the ‘Emerald Isle I’.*

Walking around the quay, I was thinking how to capture the essence of the preparations for a fishing trip. The main focus seemed to be preparing the nets for the trip and, of course, pumping the 39, 603 litres of diesel into the fuel tanks which would be needed for the 16 days.

*Crew members prepare the nets for the fishing trip.*

Talking to Smiling Johnny, the boat’s skipper, he said there’s plenty of fish to be caught, but there’s big competition with trawlers from other countries. Johnny said, as skipper, the buck stops with him - he has to arrange food, fuel, net repairs, be a first aider, firefighter and boss. Rather him than me…