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This is English USA, on the Voice of
America. Now, Lesson 65, Part 1. |
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ALLEN: |
I
hope you don't get sick. |
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MARTIN: |
I
don't think I will, Allen. I like boats and I like the ocean. Of
course, I've never been on the Pacific Ocean before. |
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ALLEN: |
Do you like fishing? |
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MARTIN: |
Yes. I've fished mostly in lakes and streams. I don't know much
about commercial fishing. |
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ALLEN: |
I
guess I don't either. We don't make much money. |
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MARTIN: |
I
want to know about the business. First let's talk about the boat.
How big is the boat? |
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ALLEN: |
It's too small. I bought it in Texas. It was built for the Gulf of
Mexico. |
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MARTIN: |
How big is it, Allen? |
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ALLEN: |
It's sixty feet long. That's big for the Gulf but very small for a
Pacific Ocean boat. |
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MARTIN: |
Why did you buy a small boat? |
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ALLEN: |
I
wanted a boat that my sons and I could operate. I have three sons.
They're my crew. Anyway I used all the money I could get. I
couldn't buy a bigger boat. |
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MARTIN: |
Is your crew all family? |
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ALLEN: |
Yes. Sometimes a friend of one of my sons comes along as a crew
member. It's a family business. |
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MARTIN: |
How did you become a fisherman? |
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ALLEN: |
My grandfather was a fisherman. He lived in Massachusetts and
fished in the Atlantic Ocean. My father hated fish. He moved out
here to Washington state to get away from fishing. |
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MARTIN: |
How do you catch your fish? |
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ALLEN: |
This boat is a trawler. |
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MARTIN: |
What does that mean? |
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ALLEN: |
We catch the fish in nets. That's one of the nets over there.
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MARTIN: |
Let's look at it. |
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ALLEN: |
See. It's cone shaped. We put the net in the water behind the
boat. The fish go in the large end. They swim into the small end
and can't get out. |
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MARTIN: |
What happens then? |
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ALLEN: |
They're caught. |
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MARTIN: |
I
mean what happens after they're caught? |
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ALLEN: |
The net and the fish are pulled from the water. The fish are put
in this large tank until we get back to the harbor. |
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MARTIN: |
What happens to your fish then? |
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ALLEN: |
Most of them go to the wholesalers. |
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MARTIN: |
Tell me about that. |
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ALLEN: |
Some of the special fish go to another family business. My
brother's wife has a place in the fish market. She sells fish in
the market and to one of the expensive restaurants in Seattle.
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MARTIN: |
What happens to the other fish? |
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ALLEN: |
I
sell them to the fish wholesalers. My catch isn't very big, so one
wholesaler usually buys everything. He sells them to people in the
market. |
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MARTIN: |
Tell me about the crew. I know they're your sons. Who's the boss?
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ALLEN: |
I
am of course. I'm the father. |
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MARTIN: |
What do they do? |
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ALLEN: |
Everything! I supervise, but we all do everything. We run the
boat. We repair the boat. We pull in the nets. We repair the nets.
It's too much for four people. But we are hard workers. |
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MARTIN: |
Do your boys like fishing? |
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ALLEN: |
Ask them. I think they love it. |
