Fishing for a living off the coast of Hawaii

As a middle school teacher, Matyas Kreidler used to spend his weekends and summers fishing off the windward side of Oahu, Hawaii. He’d sell his catch to local families or at auction in Honolulu.

“Originally, the goal was just to cover expenses,” he said. “And then last year, I moved more toward full-time fishing.”

Kreidler said he hopes to slowly build the business over time. These days, he said he’s making enough to cover the mortgage on his home, while his wife’s teaching job covers the rest of the family’s expenses.

“When the fish are biting good, then everybody’s catching, which pushes the price down,” he said. “And then other times, there’s not much biting, and you have to put a lot of time and a lot of money and fuel and resources into just getting a few fish.”

When Kreidler does have fish to sell, he unloads some of it using an app called Reeler, which allows small-scale fishermen to sell directly to individual buyers.

On slow days, he occasionally hauls in derelict fishing nets, which can be exchanged for a small “bounty” from Hawaii Pacific University’s Center for Marine Debris Research.

“I don't know if I'll ever get to the point where I'll be able to, like, make a full living off of [fishing] and definitely won't ever get rich doing it,” he said. “But as long as I can get by doing something that I love, that's kind of all I need.”

Click the audio player above to hear his story.