Graying of the Fleet
Does it seem that there are fewer shrimpers now than there used to be? During the past 30 years, the average age of U.S. commercial fishermen has increased substantially, a phenomenon known as “graying of the fleet.” As older fishermen retire, young entrants are expected to take their place, but the number of entrants is dwindling to such an extent that the very survival of the U.S. commercial fishing industry is at stake.
Why is this happening?
Several factors are contributing to the lack of young people entering the industry. First, commercial fishing is a costly venture. Ideally, young entrants inherit fishing vessels and gear from their parents or grandparents; however, that’s not always the case.
Even if young people are fortunate enough to start their fishing careers with vessels and gear already on hand, they often face slim profit margins due to a multitude of recurring expenses, including vessel upkeep, fuel, insurance, permits, safety training and crew member wages.
The low prices and high availability of imported seafood further decrease profits by forcing fishermen to keep prices low when marketing their catch, one of many reasons why it’s so important to buy locally-harvested seafood!
Compounding all of the financial obstacles involved in entering the industry, commercial fishing is a hard way of life. It’s an around-the-clock job, it’s physically taxing, and it’s one of the most dangerous professions in the United States – second only to the logging industry!
Finally, it is difficult for people who are new to commercial fishing to learn the trade.
What can we do about it?
Fishermen training programs represent a promising strategy for mitigating graying of the fleet because they provide critical infrastructure to encourage new entrants into the commercial fishing sector.
Given the prevalence of graying of the fleet along all U.S. coastlines, we decided to collect information about existing commercial fishermen training programs around the country and compile the information into a guidebook.
Seeing as recreational fishing, aquaculture, and stewardship activities are becoming increasingly popular, we included those types of training programs in the guidebook as well. Each guidebook entry contains the core features of a given program (name, location, organizer’s name and contact information), the year the program began, the duration, the cost, participation requirements and other helpful details.
What did we find?
We identified a total of 27 programs across the nation, most of which are located along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. The number of commercial versus recreational programs is approximately the same, and some programs actually cater to both sectors. Surprisingly, although program activity spans from 1981-present, more than half of the 27 programs were created during the past 5 years. This indicates that all major coastlines are making progress in implementing fishermen training programs to educate and recruit young entrants.
We hope our guidebook will serve as a useful resource for folks who are interested in starting a training program, improving upon an existing program or simply learning more about fishermen training programs. If you’re interested in viewing a PDF of the guidebook, please click here!