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Walking around the docks in Killybegs I saw these guys repairing a net, an activity that appears to have remained unchanged since I was a kid in Skerries 30 years ago. I circled a few times while I built up the courage to ask them for a picture. When I did, they were great.

From left to right: Maged Leshmi, Mohamed Arafa (Alexandria, Egypt) and Brian McGilloway (Killybegs, Ireland). They were happy to talk while they worked, filling me in on the state of the Irish fishing industry, the decline in the number of boats, the bleak prospects for the future. Unfavourable comparisons between the weather in Ireland and that of Egypt. I complained about the price of fish and they set me right with a few numbers: €20-30000 a day in fuel costs for a big fishing boat to be at sea; €100,000+ for a single net; €70,000 for the cables for the net. And these are running costs, before you take into account the capital cost of the boat and the interest repayments.

Fishing is a tough way to earn a living. It might have got a bit safer over the last few decades, with decked-in boats and better navigation and communication equipment, but it still a tough, physical job, with days or weeks at sea making families and relationships difficult as well. From growing up in a fishing town, I have a romantic image of this being a "real job". But I don't think I would be able for it.