Real Challenges of Living in a Small Fishing Community

Partners of Commercial Fishermen
Maine-island-lighthouse

“Okay, so this is kind of a crazy story. We met in Antarctica,” partner of a commercial fisherman Danielle Hall said. And I thought that Danielle running the Smithsonian National Museum’s ocean education website was cool. What’s also interesting are her challenges as a partner of a commercial fisherman, which are vastly different than mine and many other POCFs. The difficulty wasn’t finding community with other fisher families. It was being in a community where everyone is linked to fishing. Though her partner is a Maine lobsterman/day fisherman who is gone for long hours in the day but comes home each night, adjusting to a small fishing community on a remote island was a hurdle. How does a “newbie” immerse themselves into a group of fishing families that are generations deep? Danielle offers some *great* advice, and #4 is one I will implement and pass along. I know you’ll love it, too. Take it away, Danielle! (more…)

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Letter: “Can’t Find My Boyfriend’s Processor’s Address”

A common question for many partners of commercial fishermen, I wanted to show how you can reverse engineer your way onto your partner’s boat. Well, to send a care package at least. I love posting emails from other POCFs to show how accessible our community can be. If you have any questions, please email me. And if I don’t know the answers, I’ll do my best to get some for you. Take our friend “Care Package Patty,” for example. Let’s see how we were able to locate her man:

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Life Hacks from a 3rd Generation Fisherman’s Wife

A member of our private FB group told me about Sena Sea Seafoods, a family business that fishes and processes wild-caught seafood out of Alaska that offers seafood that has been caught, processed, and shipped in-house! The only time I’ve come close to this experience is when Chris brings back a “home pack” of fresh salmon he caught and canned after Bristol Bay. (“Home pack” is the extra fish fishermen can take home with them after a season. Some fishermen freeze, smoke, or can fish to preserve it to grub later.)

My favorite part of Sena Sea Seafoods is knowing the family behind it. A third-generation fishing family has found a way to make the “home pack” dream happen for anyone who loves fresh-caught salmon, white fish, shrimp, and crab. (A full list of products can be found here – hello, holiday gift ideas!) My second favorite part is knowing that Sena Wheeler – wife and namesake of the brand – could offer some pretty valuable advice as a woman who has grown up entirely around the industry and lives and breathes it to this day. Sena even touches on how they manage their money during a slow season – a real challenge for people in seasonal work like commercial fishing! I’ll let Sena take over from here:

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