Tag Archives: Tomi Marsh
A Fundraiser: Memorial Expenses for Sig and Helen Decker
On July 28, Julie and Gig Decker learned that they lost both their children, Helen and Sig Decker in a car accident in Petersburg, Alaska. Helen was 19 and Sig was 21. Although both were born and raised in Wrangell, Helen and Sig were in Petersburg fishing side-by-side for the summer to help pay for college. This unimaginable loss comes during an already challenging time. The initial $10,000 in funds raised will go towards funeral costs and related expenses. We are looking to raise $50,000 to fund the rest of the brand new Wrangell Mariner’s Memorial where Helen and Sig will be the first names on the wall. Additional funds raised after that will be used to start a Memorial Scholarship Fund,,, >click to read, and, please donate if you can<21:17
Alaska’s Female Fishermen (Yes, That’s Really a Thing) On Gender Labels, Finding Zen and Weathering Life’s Storms
There’s a hashtag going around twitter to #DressLikeAWoman. It’s pretty much an invitation to challenge the ideas of how women dress, and how what they wear does or does not define them in life. To that end, I spoke with two Alaskan female fishermen (yes, that’s the correct terminology!) to find out about the challenges of being a woman in an almost exclusively male-run industry. Why Fisherman and not Fisherwoman? When I asked why they prefer the term “fishermen” and not “fisherwoman,” Marsh said, “You earn respect as a male or female fisher, so the gender labels are not necessary. You work hard to be one of the crew and respected, not one of “the guys”—there’s a big difference.” Becker weighed in by saying, “My sense is that both men and women who fish have to prove themselves. It’s not an easy or forgiving industry, because mistakes can be dangerous, if not deadly. To rename the category “fisherwoman” or “fisher” could take away from that elite status that we’ve worked just as hard to attain (and sometimes, harder, as with most occupations in the world).” Read the story here 13:39
