January 25, 2018 — It’s a feeling many in today’s economy can relate to: starting out in a career is just harder than it used to be.
One group that’s very familiar with that idea is commercial fishermen. In New Hampshire, dozens of boats used to head out every morning to fish for cod and haddock. Today that number is down to just a handful.
For our series The Balance, which looks at the cost of living in New Hampshire, Jason Moon tells us about two young fishermen who, in spite of the odds, are trying to live a vision of an iconic New England profession.
It wasn’t always Zach Griggs’ plan to become a fisherman. Along the way, he tried other things, too.
“I went to community college for a year-and-a-half and I realized I don’t like book-work.” says Griggs. “I realized I like working.”
But more than just working, Griggs realized he liked this kind of work. The way you get paid for exactly what you catch, the way each day is different.
“The sun rises every day but none of them are the same,” says Griggs. “It’s like, every day you haul the nets, it’s not going to be the same thing as you hauled yesterday. When I did dry wall, I knew I had screw every day and a screw-gun ‘bzzz, bzzz, bzzz.’ Miserable.”
Griggs is 28, but he’s already spent about 8 years in the fishing industry.
About four months ago, he decided to make a bet on staying in for even longer. He took out a loan and bought a boat, the Bridget Leigh. It’s a 44-foot white fishing boat that Griggs knows well. He’s been a deckhand on it for the past 6 years.
It should be an exciting moment – striking out on his own like this. But sitting in his new captain’s chair, Griggs sounds deflated.
“This is about what it’s good for, right here, right now, without permits,” says Griggs, “Sitting on it, hanging out. That’s pretty much all it’s been doing.”
Turns out, being a New Hampshire fisherman isn’t what it used to be.
On a recent night at the Rye Harbor, I met with Griggs and a couple of friends onboard the Bridget Leigh to talk about the state of New Hampshire’s fishery.
One of those friends is Lucas Raymond. At 25 years old, Raymond is New Hampshire’s youngest commercial fisherman. And like Griggs, he can’t imagine doing anything else.