Saving Seafood

What are some of the key strategies to help commercial fishermen address their mental health?

July 17, 2023 — The aura associated with the concept of the Lone Fisherman has been expressed in art and on social media, reinforcing the reputation of commercial fishermen as solitary, strong individuals. That aura is more reality than myth, but the mental cost of it has only recently become better understood. Studies show that in the United States, suicide rates for a group of professionals that includes commercial fishermen are more than double the national average workplace fatalities.

Specifically in Massachusetts, workers in the forestry, hunting, and agriculture industries (which includes commercial fishing) are more likely than the average worker to be prescribed opioids to manage work-related pain and injuries and about five times more likely to die of opioid-related causes. The commercial fishing industry across the country echoes the struggle of opioid addiction and the connection to mental health issues, and with a younger generation of fishermen entering the workforce, this is something industry professionals must not ignore.

Stress has always been a factor in the commercial fishing industry, with fishermen facing unique stressors that are not always present in other industries. These stressors can include finances, finding a competent crew, weather, boat problems, lack of sleep, chronic pain, or trauma. A 2019 article mentioned that commercial fishing is the most dangerous civilian job in the U.S., with 100 deaths per 100,000 workers. It is an isolating, dangerous occupation full of uncertainty and expenses.

How are fishermen dealing with all these issues on a day-to-day basis? What does it mean to identify these distinct stressors, to acknowledge a traumatic event, or to recognize the signs of a crisis on your boat?

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Mental Health and the Modern Fisherman

March 18, 2021 — In 2005, Randy Cushman spent two days trolling through the Gulf of Maine, searching for Gary Thorbjornson’s body. Thorbjornson was family—not by blood, but in all the ways that really count. The men had grown up together, fishing the gulf’s waters since they were kids, and the intervening decades had sculpted their lives into similar shapes: careers in commercial fishing, marriages at about the same time, children of about the same age, and a tight-knit fishing community around Port Clyde, Maine.

While fishing on a foggy day in mid-July, the distress call came through: Thorbjornson’s boat was flooding, and the crew were panicking. “We have to get the fuck off this boat,” Thorbjornson yelled. By the time Cushman arrived, the crew, including Thorbjornson’s own son, were alive and safely aboard a rescue boat, but their fishing vessel was at the bottom of the ocean and Thorbjornson had vanished. The search began, hours lapsing into days as teams traversed the waters, looking for a body that might offer the Thorbjornson family a scrap of closure.

“His father called me, told me to stay,” Cushman says. “The coast guard gave up and then the other boats. I stayed like four to six hours longer and I called him back and said, ‘I can’t do this anymore. It’s killing me.’”

In Brunswick, Maine, 90 minutes west of Port Clyde, Monique Coombs has watched this silent stoicism play out over and over again in fishing communities. Coombs is the director of community programs for the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association (MCFA), a nonprofit trade group dedicated to restoring commercial fishing in the Gulf of Maine. She’s seen fishermen just like Cushman endure the pain of lost loved ones, life-changing injuries, economic hardships, and the barrage of stresses endemic to the commercial fishing industry without seeking help, and she’s seen the legacy of depression and substance abuse that often follows. These problems have gotten worse, she says, ever since COVID-19 disrupted the state’s US $674-million seafood industry, shoving already unstable families even closer to financial collapse. But Coombs has a plan to fight back. Just over one year ago, her team won a grant to launch a pilot program aimed at addressing mental health in commercial fishing communities. The grant, awarded by the Fisher Charitable Foundation, is small—only $5,000, all of which goes to producing informational materials on managing anxiety and depression. But Coombs has much bigger ambitions.

Read the full story at Hakai Magazine

Safety net: What’s missing in mental health for fishermen

August 9th, 2019 — Depression, anxiety, and thoughts of suicide are not uncommon in any fishing community no matter which coast you are on. It is an isolating, dangerous occupation full of uncertainty and expenses; it costs time, money, and many sacrifices to be a fisherman.

There are numerous mental health resources that exist for farmers and ranchers. A quick Google search of “mental health resources for farmers” offers about 128 million results. Surely, not all these results are relevant, but the first dozen is specific to resources for farmers and include articles about how current stresses in the environment and policy are affecting the mental health of farmers.

A search for “mental health resources for fishermen” does not yield the same results. This search only elicits about 7.5 million results and the first dozen barely apply to commercial harvesters. In fact, one of the articles listed is “Why taking a fishing trip is good for your mental health.” I’m guessing that’s not for the guys heading out to sea for a couple of months to deal with all kinds of weather and uncertainties and risk their lives to bring home some seafood.

Read the full story at National Fisherman