Alaska\u2019s fishing fleet may be graying, but there isn\u2019t much gray at the sixth annual Alaska Young Fishermen\u2019s Summit, hosted by the Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program and held this week in Juneau.<\/p>\n
Different organizers would likely give different answers as to the genesis of the summit, said Petersburg Sea Grant agent Sunny Rice, but for her, it comes down to empowering the young people that are the fleet\u2019s future.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are big changes going on, big decisions being made at Board of Fish, and at the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, and the young fishermen are not necessarily the ones that have the time and the money to go to those meetings, but they\u2019re the ones that those decisions are going to impact for a long time. So I wanted to\u2026 give them a chance to have a voice,\u201d Rice said.<\/p>\n
According to the Alaska Marine Conservation Council, which calls the \u201cgraying of the fleet\u201d \u201ca pressing concern for the state of Alaska and its coastal communities,\u201d the average age of an Alaska fishery permit holder in 2013 was 49.7 years old \u2014 10 years older than the average age in 1980. Now, the council says, only 17.3 percent of permit holders are under 40; in 1980, it was 38.5 percent.<\/p>\n
The council, the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the Alaska Sea Grant program are working on a project examining the problem and figuring out ways to fix it.<\/p>\n
A \u201cyoung fisherman,\u201d Rice said, can be anyone that has committed to commercial fishing as a career and wants to learn more, but attendees at the summit tend to be under 40. (The organization\u2019s sponsors and speakers pay young fishermen\u2019s way to the summit.) This week, they met other young fishermen, legislators, biologists, managers, bankers and people with other roles related to fishing. They also talked about their concerns for the future of Alaska\u2019s ocean and their living on it.<\/p>\n
Another big aspect to the summit is running a small business, and all that fishermen have to do on land. Both Shawn Kamkahpak of the F\/V Far Away, a gillnetter out of Togiak, and Darren Platt of the F\/V Agnes Sabine, a seiner out of Kodiak, were looking for information and tips on business management.<\/p>\n
Steven Johnson, who was born in Sitka and now lives in Wrangell, came for information and for contacts. His background is in trolling, though now he owns a tender \u2014 the F\/V Sally N.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have groups of people that I work with, but it\u2019s nice to expand that pool of knowledge. There\u2019s a lot to know,\u201d he said. \u201cYou never can have too many people to call and ask a question.\u201d<\/p>\n
By Wednesday at noon, he\u2019d already found Chris Trainer\u2019s talk on \u201cinsurance tools to reduce risk\u201d more informative than lots of other advice he\u2019s received, he said.<\/p>\n
Bristol Bay F\/V Garfield gillnetter Mickey Sharp, who got his start gillnetting with his grandfather and now fishes with his 9-year-old son, has been to the summit twice before. His main concerns are fish prices and the weather. Both have been changing, and not for the better, he said.<\/p>\n
Prices last season in Bristol Bay were about 50 cents per pound of sockeye.<\/p>\n
\u201cFifty cents a pound for reds seems outrageous,\u201d said Alaska Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Sam Cotten in response to a fisherman\u2019s question. \u201cFrom a fisherman\u2019s perspective, I certainly agree.\u201d<\/p>\n
He talked about reasons for the price and a few of the options the government has, one of which is allowing foreign processors in if American processors don\u2019t have the capacity to process and buy the season\u2019s fish.<\/p>\n
At Douglas Island Pink and Chum on Wednesday afternoon, Alaska Sea Grant agent Torie Baker moderated a panel about environmental concerns like algae blooms, ocean acidification, bycatch and king salmon, which Forrest Bowers, deputy director of commercial fishing at ADF&G, said seems to be improving in the state.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe think that\u2019s starting to shift a little bit,\u201d he said. \u201cWe may be entering a period of improved (king salmon) production in Alaska. We\u2019re starting to get a feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gov. Bill Walker addressed the group on Wednesday, telling them he\u2019s \u201cjust thrilled to see this program.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are not enough young fishermen,\u201d he said. \u201cOur oceans are so abundant with opportunity. Our job is to make sure that those opportunities are connected with you, with Alaskans.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thursday, fishermen went to the Legislature, met with the House Fisheries Committee, and learned about the state Board of Fish; Friday they observed the International Pacific Halibut Commission, which is meeting in Juneau this week and approved catch limits and regulations.<\/p>\n
Attendees also broke into small groups to talk about big issues, including things like ocean acidification, fish prices and transboundary mines, Rice said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the only time that\u2026 someone from Bristol Bay is going to be sitting next to someone from Southeast Alaska,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd maybe they have issues they have in common, and they can learn things from each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s really important for young fishermen to have a political voice,\u201d said Sitka fisherman Sophie Nethercut, who deckhands on a troller out of Sitka, and was also at the summit with the Sitka Conservation Society.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re dealing with huge issues, including transboundary mines and ocean acidification\u2026 we want to work with other young fishermen to build a coalition.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022 Contact Juneau Empire Outdoors editor Mary Catharine Martin at maryc.martin@juneauempire.com.<\/p>\n
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