I was in the plant for 16 years. I was cutting, trimming, skinning, packing, weighing and on IQF (individual quick freeze). There was only one job I didn't do and that was unload the boats. I said to them, "Now, the only place I haven't been is out in the cold storage." That's where they keep the fish when they take it out of the draggers. But they wouldn't let women out there.

I found cutting was a bit hard. I'd be all day working to get 100 and 103 and 110 - scattered time I would get me 133, but it would be a good day or we'd have good fish. Sometimes they'd unload it with those old suckers and it would be all beat up and it was hard to fillet. If you got good fish - firm and fresh - it would be a joy just to cut it. We'd get some more and the bones be sticking out of it. In terms of pay, though, the cutters would be paid the most per hour. The trimmers would get roughly the same as the skinners, and the packers would get paid the least of all.