The Job Tour: Hardworking West Coasters

The Tranz-Alpine brings tourists from the east coast into Greymouth. File photo

Greymouth has the lowest unemployment rate in the country, sitting at just 3.9 per cent, well below the national average of 7.9 per cent. Coal mining, fisheries and tourism make up the city's economy, with all three growing by the day.

Another astonishing fact we discovered was how much these people earn. We came to the area expecting that the locals would probably be on a lower than normal income.

But we were surprised when we heard that the average coal miner earns around $80,000 a year, and on a good day, during hoki season, a fisherman can earn $1000 a day.

We walked into the Endurance Fishing dock and were met with the most down-to-earth, friendly, helpful people you can get. The skipper, Barry, and one of his crew, Karle, had just come back from work at the sea for the past week, but had a chat to us and showed us around the trawler, and how it all works.

It's strange because you see these big ships all the time, but it's a completely different world when you're on them. The decks are as you'd expect, and the smell is overpowering, but these cabins were flash and the living quarters more spacious than we imagined.

We learnt that the fishing industry is one of the biggest employers of youth in the city, as young people make up the majority of the local fishing industry's work force.

The skipper said this is because you need to be young, fit and able to meet the physical demands of the job, and for people with a family the extensive stints away from home can be difficult to deal with.

But it's also an industry you can quickly work your way up in.

Clearly the shifts could be considered the downside of the job. Skippers work two weeks on, two weeks off so essentially only work six months of the year. Other crew work a six-day-weeks.

In the normal fishing season boats go out to sea for six days at a time and bring back on average 40 tonnes of fish. But in peak season this all changes. Hoki season (September to November) is the hardest work for the fishermen but also the big money maker. They return from sea every day, and can make up to a $1000 daily.

The big issue in fishing is that they're paid on what they catch. This means if they go through a quiet few weeks, they'll get paid very little, but of course they can earn the big bucks in the busy seasons.

One skipper told us the fishing industry is appealing for a lot of locals because you can work outside and because of the block shift work (having a week off at a time), but he says you've got to have the right work ethic and personality.