Members of the Fishing Industry Discuss How to Find and Educate Workers

Speakers Julie Matweyou and Oliver Holm at a ComFish panel about the Alaska Maritime Workforce Development Plan. Kayla Desroches/KMXT

Kayla Desroches/KMXT

 

Groups across Alaska want to keep the fishing industry strong and steady and increase the number of people who pursue maritime careers.

 

 

 

Industry sectors and state agencies across the state have compiled the Alaska Maritime Workforce Development Plan, which outlines different approaches to bolstering the industry, including increased training and more education programs.

 

Julie Matweyou of the Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program, led a three-member panel at ComFish which talked about supporting Kodiak through workforce development. Fisherman Oliver Holm was one of the speakers and says newcomers to the fishing industry need to have a lot of different skills.

 

“We’ve got all these younger people that will have to replace us before very long.,” says Holm. “And to be financially successful, they need to know more right up front than we did when I started, when things were relatively simple.”

 

And the maritime plan will help young people gain those skills, if they can reach them.

 

One of the audience members, Sune Forsman, is in the processing industry. He expressed concern about the aging workforce from the perspective of an employer.

 

“Local workforce for us is between 60 and 65 and I don’t see a really good way of how we’re going to replace those people,” Forsman says. “I don’t personally see a lot of the younger folks coming down and wanting to slime a fish or make a shatter pack. That’s not what they’re aspiring to do. Yet those position still need to be filled at this point.”

 

The Alaska Maritime Workforce Development Plan is part of an attempt to spread awareness about opportunities to learn and do more in the fishing industry. For everyone. As Julie Matweyou points out, the document isn’t just for the young.

 

“I think the first step is just to let people know that there is a plan and there are different groups working in different capacities and collaboratively to bring training and support to the current industry as well as to encourage new entry,” says Matweyou.

     

One upcoming training opportunity is a marine electrical certification course at Kodiak College that begins in May. If you’re interested, you can go to the American Boat and Yacht Council website.