Alaska’s facing the ‘graying of the fleet,’ but some determined young fishermen are bucking the trend – Alaska Dispatch News

Red salmon are beginning to hit Bristol Bay and across the state, thousands of fishermen are mending nets, hiring crew and preparing to harvest the bounty from Alaska waters and the seas beyond. Today, the average age of a commercial fishery permit holder in Alaska is 50 — up from 40 in 1980. At that time, Alaskans under the age of 40 held nearly 40 percent of the fishing permits. As of a couple of years ago, young Alaska fishermen owned less than 20 percent.

This “graying of the fleet” means that fewer young Alaskans are becoming fishermen. For young people already fishing, advancing in the industry can be hard, especially with the costs of permits, quota and vessels rising.

The numbers are particularly startling in Alaska’s coastal villages. Over the past four decades in rural communities around Kodiak, for example, there’s been an 84 percent drop in the number of salmon seine permits owned by local fishermen under the age of 40.

Read the full article here.