Young people are becoming a rare sight in the aging and shrinking commercial fishing industry
Lane Bolich first came to work in Alaska for the freedom and excitement that comes with being a fisher.
“There’s no future for an industry that doesn’t have young people coming in,” said Linda Behnken, the executive director of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association. “They’re thinking about the long term health of the resource, the health of the industry and the fishing communities that they’re a part of.”found the average age of fishers had increased 10 years from the previous generation to about 50 years old.
These challenges are apparent to Bolich. He said working as a commercial fisher today means working to undo the damage to fisheries from harmful practices in the past like overfishing and understanding the impact climate change will have on fish populations. More training should help as finding reliable crew for boats is difficult, according to Darren Platt, captain of the Agnes Sabine, a salmon fishing boat based in Kodiak. When Platt started running his own boat in 2010, unemployment was high and labor was easier to find, but as jobs have become more available in the lower 48, Platt has noticed fewer people making their way to Kodiak to work.
“This is a pretty far place from where I live so a very big step out of my comfort zone,” Zuniga said. “I still got a lot to learn.”
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