Why do we tip the mates?

[Flukenstein]

50 people at $75 each = $3750 20% of $3750 is $750--not $900. So each mate would make $375 in dollars in tips. A good days pay indeed. But you continue to miss the point of the original post which is all the work done by the mates besides the actual fishing time. Furthermore, if you think mates are $375 a day very often you ARE out of the loop. There are many days when boats sail with 10-12 people and the mates are hoping to make $50 to split.