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Anyone would be hard pressed to find a local who did not enjoy savouring the succulent flavour of Bermuda fish.

However, very few are aware of the hard work required to harvest local fish from the water.

Retired fisherman Danny Farias said thousand of dollars are spent by local fishermen before they even catch one fish.

"It's hard work,'' he said. "Most of the public has no idea what a fisherman has to go through.

"First, you have to have a boat with a good engine and the insurance on a boat can cost between $2,000 to $3,000 a year. Fuel, depending on where you are going, can cost about $150.'' On top of that expense there is the cost of ice to keep fish fresh -- not a cheap commodity.

"You need an ice machine which can run between $3,000 to $4,000 a machine,'' Mr. Farias explained. "It's a requirement, if you don't the fish will go off before you even get back to shore.'' Cliff Lambert echoed Mr. Farias stance that fishing was an expensive endeavour.

"We pay $4 plus a gallon for gas and a decent day's fishing, depending on the size of the boat, can run between $120 up to $320 in fuel,'' said Mr. Lambert who spent 12 years commercial fishing and now operates the charter fishing vessel Striker 1 .

After stocking up on hooks, bait nets (to haul in tiny fish like Frys) and expensive rods, a fisherman will have to get up before the "crack of dawn'' if he plans to get to prime fishing waters to get in a full day's work.

"If you're going offshore, you'll have to be up by 3 or 4 a.m. to go out,'' Mr. Farias recalled with a chuckle.

And the job is one which takes men far away from home, sometimes for days at a time, since eight miles at sea -- roughly the distance from Hamilton to Gibbs Hill Lighthouse -- is considered fishing "pretty close to home''.

Often fishermen will sail more than the length of Bermuda in distance to reach prime spots.

"Argus Bank, where I use to fish, is 26 miles offshore,'' Mr. Farias said." You don't see any land but at night you can see the light from Gibbs Hill Lighthouse. Out there you get runs of tuna, wahoo and right now barracuda.

"The yellow tails are pretty good on the Challenger Bank,'' he added.

Over 650 different species of fish swim through local waters, but Mr. Lambert said that there were seasonal variations in what's likely to bite.

"January through April is mostly Wahoo, tuna and the big Black Grouper and Rock Fish,'' he said. "You will also get a bit of each species but not in great numbers.

"April to June you have the Yellow Fin Tuna coming in and Wahoo. June to October you have the big Blue Marlin -- the sports fishermen fish for them.

"Yellow Tail Snapper will bite anytime from June to November and the best time to get them is late afternoon and nights,'' Mr. Lambert added.

To maximise their fuel and time, most fishermen will stay out on the high seas for several days at a time.

"A fisherman spends an awful lot of time on the ocean to try to get enough fish to make a living and that could mean leaving the dock at 6 a.m. and returning around 8 p.m. or in some cases staying overnight for two or three days,'' Mr. Lambert explained.

"When I was younger I would stay out for at least 2 days,'' said Mr. Farias.

"I could take home anywhere between 800 to 1,000 pounds of fish.'' "With net fishing, if you're skilled, you can take in an awful lot of Jacks or Bonito, between 2,000 and 3,000 pounds of fish -- that's if all of the conditions are right and there are no predators.'' But no matter how prepared they are or how hard they work, fishermen are at the mercy of one capricious lady -- Mother Nature.

"If the tide conditions are not right you might just make enough to cover your expenses,'' said Mr. Farias. "It all depends on Mother Nature.

"Everyday may be a fishing day but not every day is a catching day. You have got to be in the right place at the right time in the right conditions.'' But once they harvest their catch, fishermen can reap the rewards for all of their efforts.

"Fishermen will call up the people they want to supply the fish to and tell them what they have,'' Mr. Lambert explained. "Most of the time they are told to just drop it off.'' For those purchasing fish to enjoy at home, Mr. Farias had some words of advice on how to select a choice Bermuda fish.

"Look at the fish's eyes,'' he explained. "They should be vivid and bright, but if the fish was immersed in ice and water and the water doesn't drain the eyes will turn white, making it hard to tell.

"If you press the flesh and the indentation stays there then it's not top quality. But if it rises it's a good one.'' The scales of the fish should also cling tightly to the skin while fillets or steaks should be moist with no browning or drying around the edge.

Continued of Page 17 Being a fisherman is a tough, but rewarding job Mr. Farias also said that fresh fish does not have a strong smell -- so if you don't mind handling one, pick up the fish and inhale.

"The fishermen today are very conscious of the quality of their fish, so you usually find good ones on the market.'' But Mr. Farias was reluctant to name the most popular fish -- claiming that it depended on each person's tastes.

He said: "It depends on a person's taste buds and what you were brought up on.'' Mr. Lambert agreed, however he crowned the dolphin fish as perhaps the most coveted fish in the world.

"I would think world-over that fish is very tasty to everyone,'' he explained. "You can catch that locally and you will really get them through Bermuda in September and October.'' And he also lavished praise on the yellow tail snapper and yellow fin tuna.

"Yellow tail snapper is a very good fish and most of the restaurants like to have that fish because it is a nice white fillet and they can make a very good presentation of it.

"One fish that is really beginning to sell and Bermudians are really starting to get a taste for is the yellow fin tuna. It is a very healthy, tasty fish and what people are starting to do with it is eat it raw. It is one of the main fish on the market right now for sushi.'' "Today fish sells anywhere from $4 to $7 a pound,'' Mr. Farias said. "Some may go for $8 like the black rock fish or grouper. On the US market Rock fish would sell for $12 a pound. It is a fabulous fish.'' Mr. Lambert added that -- despite the relatively high cost of real Bermuda fish -- the industry offered value for money.

He said: "Fishermen go through quite a bit to put Bermuda fish on the tables for Bermudians.

"It's a lot of work involved and I personally believe that it is worth every penny they ask for it.

And he insisted: "It's not that profitable -- if you fish commercially you are just making a living and struggling at that sometimes.'' But Dionne Millett, a young Bermudian man considering pursuing a future in fishing claimed: "If you enjoy it, it doesn't seem like hard work -- you just deal with it''.

"I think you can make money out of it,'' he added. "You have to go prepared and try to be professional about it. And you have to have different places to moor, so that if one area is not biting, then you go check another.

"You have to be smart. It is hard work and you do spend a lot of money if you have a big boat.'' Mr. Millett said he was bitten by the fishing bug the moment he hit the high seas.

"From my first time out there I fell in love with it,'' he recalled. "You get away from the stress of the Island -- it's so peaceful out there.

"If you want to set your mind to it and you love it, you can make a go of it, you just have to start out on a small scale.'' FIN-TASTIC FISH -- The Red Hind (top left), Yellow Tail (top left and far right) and Hog fish (centre) are just some of the delights fishermen harvested from local waters.