Alaska’s seafood industry is the largest private-sector employer in the state. More than 60 thousand people worked in the industry in 2019, according to a report from the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute.
But women only make up a small fraction of that workforce. The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development reported in 2015 that women account for only about 14 percent of skippers and crew on commercial fishing vessels. And about one-third of processing workers.
In the first episode of No 8th Grader is an Island, we examine one element of island life: what it's like to be a woman in the fishing industry.
Dalyla Nettleton, Beatrice Bagley, and Corynn Lekanoff interviewed Asia Vernon, one of the owners of Keepin’ it Reel Charters Unlimited. Their interview with her highlights some of the intricacies of what it’s like to be a woman in Alaska fishing.