Stephanie Hryzan

Location of Interview
Collection Name

Young Fishermen in the Northeast United States

Description

Interviews with 39 fishers between the ages of 18-35, located along the US East Coast from Maine to North Carolina. Collectively, they represent a wide variety of gear types and fisheries. All had been fishing full-time for at least two years and wanted to make fishing their career. They describe motivations for choosing a fishing career, strategies used, barriers encountered, and facilitating factors that have enabled interviewees to defy the graying trend to become successful fishermen.

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Interviewer
Affiliation
Date of Interview
11-23-2020
Transcribers

Sarah Schumann

Principal Investigator
Audio
Biographical Sketch

Stephanie Hryzan, 35 years old at the time of the interview, is a deckhand on draggers in Point Judith, RI. Despite having a father in the industry, she did not grow up fishing and instead went to college before working in various sales jobs. However, she has always had a deep love of sea creatures, and after a year as a scallop observer, she decided in her early 30s to take part in the inaugural cohort of the Commercial Fisheries Center of RI's Commercial Fishing Apprenticeship Program. 

Scope and Content Note

Stephanie Hryzan (SH) discusses her career as a commercial fisherman and her journey into the fishing industry. She starts by mentioning her father's background as a quahogger. She mentions that being a female fisherman can present unique challenges, but she is passionate about her work and enjoys learning about fishing gear, species identification, and marine life. Stephanie reflects on the diversity of people in the fishing industry and notes that it can be difficult for younger people to get into the industry without connections or a specific skill set.

Stephanie add that the apprenticeship program was indispensable "[b]ecause if you're not a kid, it's a weird industry. How are you going to get into it, if you don't know somebody? Or know somebody well? Because nobody wants a stranger on a boat. 'Oh, I have a friend that wants to go fishing. He's never been, but says he doesn't get seasick.' That's not really a big sell. Because one of the things is, you have to know somebody. Well, I didn't. I mean, I did technically know somebody, but I didn't have any—especially as a girl. I'm not saying I've ever felt different being a female in fishing, but it wouldn't have been easy to get into otherwise. It helped me get on a boat, and that's the hard part. You can prove yourself after, but first you need to get on a boat."


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