As in many occupations, getting the young to take over from their parents is challenging in commercial fishing. It’s hard work, often not highly remunerative, and small coastal towns are not exciting enough to stay in after graduation. But small town survival and the security of the food chain demand new blood in this line of work. A fishermen’s cooperative at the Lokka-Porttipahta reservoir in the Lapland region of Finland has set out to tackle the challenge. They developed a master-apprentice project where young people work with older fishermen for a period of two and a half years. The project identified three objectives:
1. ensure the continuity of fishing in the area
2. improve the professional skills of both new and existing fishers, and
3. develop an innovative fisheries recruitment model for the area.
The working regime is flexible, allowing time for other work of studies. Initially unpaid, the programme now has EU funding to provide more immediate monetary incentives. The population of fishers locally has doubled because of the program, and local skills in boat and gear design and use—passed on by particular oldsters to their apprentices—are no longer at risk of extinction. Gender equality is promoted as fishers of either sex can and do join the program.
And ageing fishermen are now less worried that theirs is a dying breed.
