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A fisherman's life on the high seas: harsh, risky and badly paid
"You make a lot of sacrifices and they don't pay you what they should," shrugs Jeronimo Martinez, a fisherman from Marin, home port of the shipwrecked Spanish trawler.
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Spanish fisherman Jeronimo Martinez, poses for pictures with his dog in the port city of Marin, northwestern Spain, on February 17, 2022. (AFP/Miguel Riopa)
"It's very tough, you make a lot of sacrifices and they don't pay you what they should," shrugs Jeronimo Martinez, a fisherman from Marin, home port of the shipwrecked Spanish trawler.
The tragedy -- Spain's worst fishing accident in nearly 40 years which claimed 21 lives and left only three survivors when their ship foundered in stormy waters off Newfoundland -- has thrown into sharp relief the risks and harsh working conditions faced by fishermen.
The death toll has sent shock waves across the northwestern region of Galicia where fishing is hugely important and which accounts for some 10 percent of all of the European Union's fresh fish landings, regional figures show.
Often these deep-sea fishermen will spend months at sea, far from their families.
"You're away for so long: you go out to sea when your child's just been born and when you come back, he's already doing his first communion," jokes Martinez as he takes a coffee at a bar popular with fishermen in Marin.
He used to spend six-month stints at sea fishing for cod off Newfoundland but is currently not working after having a hernia operation.
"For most sailors, the head of the family is the mother, who is the one who's at home. The fathers are all away, working," said the 51-year-old, who is missing part of a finger due to an accident while working on a trawler.
