Ronnie Anderson, 45, gazes at the receding San Francisco skyline at sunset on a night fish for anchovies. The captain of the boat, Sean Hodges, 33, said he'd rather die than stop fishing. "It's like therapy," he said. "It's better than sex."

David Usic, reaches to pull fish parts out of the net as a seagull pecks at the remains.

Fred Loftus, 51, walks into a fish holding well to clean it after unloading the bounty of a three-day fishing expedition on the Point Loma. Due to tighter governmental regulations the boat rarely runs at full capacity.

Ronnie Anderson, 45, left, and Erik Sandquist, 21, right, guide a net into the bait well to empty the Mya Nicole of anchovies at Richmond Inner Harbor, California. Sandquist said he tried making it through high school but ended up skipping for weeks at a time for fishing trips. He started fishing on commercial boats at 14 and thinks of fishing as an addiction. "That's what this is the worst heroin addiction ever," he said.

David Usic, 42, smokes a joint in the kitchen of the Point Loma after returning to Pier 45 from a three-day trip. Usic said he smokes every time he returns from a fishing trip. "This is my ritual," he said.

Fred Loftus, 51, takes off his shirt revealing a pirate tattoo as a seagull takes flight. Whenever Loftus gets a paycheck, he said he comes into town to add to the tattoo.

Ronnie Anderson, 45, heaves a net's poles to unload sardines.

Alex Toponce, 29, known by his crew mates as Giant, drinks Coors Light as he waits for his chicken wings at Hooter's at Fisherman's Wharf after a nine-hour day trip to catch anchovies. Toponce had two hours of free time before going out again for a night fish, which lasted until 1 a.m.