Tag Archives: crewmember Mike Jones
Tauranga skipper Bert Aitken retires after 43 years in fishing industry
After 43 years working at sea, commercial skipper Robert ‘Bert’ Aitken has “never” been seasick. Aitken has been working in the fishing industry for 43 years, spending the majority of that time at commercial seafood company Sanford. Wednesday was his last day. He started his career as an unqualified deckhand, eventually working his way up to become a skipper. For a typical fishing trip, Aitken would travel from Tauranga to Auckland on a Wednesday. The boat would then leave Thursday morning and not return until the following Wednesday. Everything needed to be organised beforehand, including checking the weather, making a plan on where to fish and getting ice and bins, he said. He and his two crew members, Matangaro “Mat”’ Ben and Mike Jones, would then head out. Aitken said they fished on the East Coast, anywhere between Cape Brett in the Bay of Islands and Cape Runaway. Photos, >click to read< 19:21
