February 11, 2022 — The commercial fishing industry is facing unprecedented challenges with a graying of the fleet and very few young fishermen joining our industry. In our coastal communities, the average age of a fisherman has increased significantly and the number of “greenhorns,” or beginning fishermen, has continued to decline. Inaction by Congress may make the situation worse.
Despite a deep fishing heritage, coastal and fishing communities across the country are experiencing a generational shift. As current fishermen look to retire, we see fewer younger fishermen stepping up and continuing our fishing tradition as captains and crew. The future of our industry, coastal communities, and access to sustainable, domestic seafood depends on our ability to recruit and train new fishermen. We are already seeing the landscape change as imported seafood becomes more common in our markets. The shortage of young fishermen will only exacerbate this problem and lead to fewer sustainable, domestically harvested seafood options for our fellow Americans.
It is critical that we work to solve this issue at all levels of government. Last year, Congress passed the Young Fishermen’s Development Act to support training for the next generation of commercial fishermen. This new program is modeled after the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Development Program and is aimed at training and equipping the next generation of commercial fishermen with the skills and knowledge necessary to be successful in the fishing industry. This program will help encourage recruits in the commercial fishing industry by providing funding for states and organizations across the country to develop programs that create hands-on training opportunities for men and women interested in commercial fishing.