The fish buyers would first contact Agents in Martinique before proceeding to venture, then fish prices would be agreed upon with the local fishermen. The fish buyers would purchase ice from the local ice factory, then they would buy an assortment of bottom fish including Snapper, Butter-Fish, Parrot-Fish, Grouper and Hind. These fish would be gutted by the fishermen and presented to weigh, then put on ice on the buyers boat. When a fish buyer reaches his quota he would then top up with some more ice then depart for Martinique.

When the fish is sold to the Agent the local buyer is paid in Francs. The Francs cannot be spent in petite martinique or Grenada, so the local buyers would exchange the currency for 'E.C' (Eastern Caribbean Dollars). At times they would purchase items in Martinique with the money for retail. It is not unusual for the buyer to also be a proprietor of a SuperMarket, retailing the very same products purchased with the money earn from the sold fish and boosting his revenues even further.

The local fishermen would venture out to sea as often as they can to make their regular catch. As any other busineses, they would have their good days as well as their bad, hoping everytime that they would do better than the last time. The average fisherman would have to know his fishing grounds as well as his technique or he would never make a good catch.

Bottom fishing can be divided into two categories;
(1). Trap-Stick.
(2). Short-Rod.

(1). Trap Stick is considered the most effective in bottom fishing, mainly because the three hooks placed on seperate lines are within the same depth, catching mostly fish of the same school. The fishermen would normally use 40lb lines to tie their trap-stick, tying the end to a 1/4 inch wire about 1.5 feet long. Then using fishpot wire they would tie three pieces about 6 inches long to the 1/4 inch wire, setting them about 5 inches apart with a loop on the end. Then the fishermen would cut three pieces of the 40lb line, about 2 feet long and tie to the loop of the wire. Finally a size 9 or 10 hook would be placed at the end of the lines.

(2). Short-Rod, on the other hand, would be made using just the 40lb line and a 1/2 to 1 inch steel rod about 4 to 7 inches long. The steel rod would be tied to the end of the line and three pieces of the 40lb line about 2 to 2.5 feet long, would be tied about 3 feet away from the rod, with a separation of 2 feet. The short rod gives the fishermen the advantage of knowing what depth the fish are biting at.