Possibly you are watching the wrong fishers;) I like all your analyses, I’ll add one. The Old Man is shackled to the sea by bonds of both love and need, he wouldn’t be anywhere else, he can’t realistically be any where else. The sea is his indifferent lover, can grant him not only sustenance but also elation and momentary fulfillment, and can as easily deny him both, or offer them, let him see the ultimate, and then casually withdraw them.