Aging workforce poses challenge to Alaska fishing’s future
(Original link: https://www.undercurrentnews.com/2016/12/06/aging-workforce-poses-challenge-to-alaska-fishings-future/)
An ongoing Alaska study slated to be published in mid-2017 will be one of the first to offer potential solutions to a problem known as the “graying of the fleet” — the shrinking proportion of young fishermen in the state.
The increasing average age of Alaska's fishermen is seen as a growing issue according to researchers behind the project, called “Alaska’s Next Generation of Fishermen.”
“As many Alaska permit holders approach retirement age, the decision of the next generation about fishing will impact coastal communities,” the group wrote on its website.
In 2013, the average age of Alaska fishing permit holders was just under 50 years old, up a decade from the 1980 average. The number of Alaska residents under the age of 40 who hold permits has fallen from 38% in 1980 to 17% in 2013.
The study, funded by the North Pacific Research Board and the group Alaska Sea Grant, aims to gain a clear understanding of the barriers to entry and upward mobility within the commercial fishing industry among local youth. It also hopes to suggest solutions, Courtney Carothers, one of its researchers said.
“This study is new in that it’s trying to really focus on alternatives and move beyond defining the problem to [outlining] solutions that are going to help,” Carothers told Undercurrent News.
“One of our main objectives was the gather a broad suite of alternatives that have been tried in other regions around the globe,” she said.
Carothers, a University of Alaska-Fairbanks (UAF) professor, is working with Rachel Donkersloot of the Alaska Marine Conservation Council, Paula Cullenberg of Alaska Sea Grant and Jesse Coleman, a PhD student at UAF.
Generational disconnect
Carothers stressed that there are many factors that have contributed to the aging of the fleet, with one of the most significant ones being a generational disconnect.
For example, in the Kodiak region, 90% of people would have been exposed to commercial fishing a generation ago, which is no longer the case.
“Within one generation we’ve seen a really large decline in exposure to and engagement in fishing,” she said.
Carothers said that one of the most surprising findings were the results of a survey conducted among more than half of middle school and high school students in Kodiak.
“Only 9% of [them] have ever had any commercial fishing experience. That was a low, pretty shocking, number,” she said. “A decade ago that number would have been a lot higher.”
At risk are some of Alaska’s most remote villages, which have historically depended on fishing.
“With access to fishing cut off, there’s really not much to sustain those communities,” she said. “There’s a crisis, and if there’s not a policy response I think there will be communities that will cease to exist, and these are communities with 7,500 years of history.”
Alaska a unique challenge
Carothers said many provisions that have worked in other countries to combat the aging problem would be very difficult to implement in Alaska.
Special access rights for younger fishermen are out.
“In the State of Alaska constitution, there’s a very clear language about equal access to resources, so it’s challenging to create a special kind of provision that enables groups that have been marginalized from the system [to get easier access to commercial fishing],” she said.
The study is compiling a list of solutions, including alternatives that are more likely to work in Alaska.
Some initiatives have already been put in place, such as the community development quota program established at the federal level.
Carothers said that the program is a “good example of how the federal fisheries program has been amended to provide extra access for rural Alaskan communities in western Alaska.”
At the state level there have also been certain provisions that have make access easier for certain rural communities.
“We’re hoping to work through the state process and the federal process of trying to get our findings in front of decision makers,” she said.
The current economic crisis in Alaska will, however, likely be an impediment.
“I think it’s hard to focus on anything else…[the economic crisis] has taken energy away from anything else, I think that is an important limiting factor at the state level right now,” she said.
An ongoing Alaska study slated to be published in mid-2017 will be one of the first to offer potential solutions to a problem known as the “graying of the fleet” — the shrinking proportion of young fishermen in the state.
The increasing average age of Alaska's fishermen is seen as a growing issue according to researchers behind the project, called “Alaska’s Next Generation of Fishermen.”
“As many Alaska permit holders approach retirement age, the decision of the next generation about fishing will impact coastal communities,” the group wrote on its website.
In 2013, the average age of Alaska fishing permit holders was just under 50 years old, up a decade from the 1980 average. The number of Alaska residents under the age of 40 who hold permits has fallen from 38% in 1980 to 17% in 2013.
The study, funded by the North Pacific Research Board and the group Alaska Sea Grant, aims to gain a clear understanding of the barriers to entry and upward mobility within the commercial fishing industry among local youth. It also hopes to suggest solutions, Courtney Carothers, one of its researchers said.
“This study is new in that it’s trying to really focus on alternatives and move beyond defining the problem to [outlining] solutions that are going to help,” Carothers told Undercurrent News.
“One of our main objectives was the gather a broad suite of alternatives that have been tried in other regions around the globe,” she said.
Carothers, a University of Alaska-Fairbanks (UAF) professor, is working with Rachel Donkersloot of the Alaska Marine Conservation Council, Paula Cullenberg of Alaska Sea Grant and Jesse Coleman, a PhD student at UAF.
Generational disconnect
Carothers stressed that there are many factors that have contributed to the aging of the fleet, with one of the most significant ones being a generational disconnect.
For example, in the Kodiak region, 90% of people would have been exposed to commercial fishing a generation ago, which is no longer the case.
“Within one generation we’ve seen a really large decline in exposure to and engagement in fishing,” she said.
Carothers said that one of the most surprising findings were the results of a survey conducted among more than half of middle school and high school students in Kodiak.
“Only 9% of [them] have ever had any commercial fishing experience. That was a low, pretty shocking, number,” she said. “A decade ago that number would have been a lot higher.”
At risk are some of Alaska’s most remote villages, which have historically depended on fishing.
“With access to fishing cut off, there’s really not much to sustain those communities,” she said. “There’s a crisis, and if there’s not a policy response I think there will be communities that will cease to exist, and these are communities with 7,500 years of history.”
Alaska a unique challenge
Carothers said many provisions that have worked in other countries to combat the aging problem would be very difficult to implement in Alaska.
Special access rights for younger fishermen are out.
“In the State of Alaska constitution, there’s a very clear language about equal access to resources, so it’s challenging to create a special kind of provision that enables groups that have been marginalized from the system [to get easier access to commercial fishing],” she said.
The study is compiling a list of solutions, including alternatives that are more likely to work in Alaska.
Some initiatives have already been put in place, such as the community development quota program established at the federal level.
Carothers said that the program is a “good example of how the federal fisheries program has been amended to provide extra access for rural Alaskan communities in western Alaska.”
At the state level there have also been certain provisions that have make access easier for certain rural communities.
“We’re hoping to work through the state process and the federal process of trying to get our findings in front of decision makers,” she said.
The current economic crisis in Alaska will, however, likely be an impediment.
“I think it’s hard to focus on anything else…[the economic crisis] has taken energy away from anything else, I think that is an important limiting factor at the state level right now,” she said.
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