by Ed Kluender, Guest Blogger
It’s happened to most of us in fisheries field research, whether loading up the shock boat at a ramp, stopped at a gas station for tater wedges and bad coffee, or on the river when you run into someone who’s paying a guide to be there for nearly the same reason we’re there on the clock.
It starts with the initial, “What are you doing with all that weird gear?” Upon explanation is the inevitable, “Man, it must be nice to get paid to go fishing!”
I’ve seen a range of attitudes after this. Oddly enough, one of the more common responses is an uncomfortable mixture of resentment, cynicism, and anger that one could actually make a career of being on the water studying fish.
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| Humpback Chub are an endangered species native to the Grand Canyon. As a tourist, you can pay upwards of $1000 to visit this spot. As a fish biologist, you can make overtime pay there. Photo: Kristen Pearson |
