Commercial fishing in N.H. needs new people to survive
Traditionally, a fishing boat and business would be handed down within a family, but this kind of succession rarely happens anymore. That’s led to a “graying of the fleet,” and now the average lobster captain in New England is over 55 years old, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “I saw more and more veteran captains retiring and no one locally was buying their boat and taking over their business,” said Andrea Tomlinson, the founder of the New England Young Fishermen’s Alliance, a nonprofit aimed at recruiting the next generation of fishermen. Tomlinson said there were 118 ground fishermen who were federally registered in New Hampshire in 2000, but by 2020, the number had dropped to 18, only three of whom are actively fishing for ground fish, which live near the ocean floor. >click to read< 11:16
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