Working the Waters

Morgaine McFarland

Working the Waters

May 11th, 2007

Necessary Passion

There is no doubt that in the modern age of working on the water, people have to want it passionately in order to succeed.  This especially applies to women.  Historically speaking, referring to the works we have read (Rediker, and Melville just to name two) passion for the sea was not a prerequisite.  Men in port towns were taken off the street and conscripted into service.  But now the job is all about passion.  Whether or not one is in love with the sea or is willing to risk everything for lots of money there has to be a strong pull to work on the water.  Every time a commercial fisherman goes out to work, he, or she, is risking their life. 

The Alaskan commercial fishing industry has the highest death rate in the country.  “200 per 100,000” people die in that business (pg. 98, Fields).  That statistic means that 2 percent of all commercial fisherman in Alaska, die on the job.  That’s terrifying.  A person has to have a very strong will in order to face those odds.  Women also face additional risk because of their generally smaller stature and less upper body strength than men.

There is also the harassment aspect of the job.  Women fisherman are still not very common within the industry.  A result of spending weeks or even months at a time as a woman onboard a boat surrounded by men, there will be harassment.  This harassment is not always physical.  Most of the time it’s mental or emotional.  One woman talked about how she felt as the only woman on board she had to take on the role of emotional advisor.  “It’s like I had to make sure everybody was happy (pg. 58).”  Other times women are just discriminated against.  “ ‘Yeah, I’d like to hire you but you know how it is.’ The skipper means his wife wouldn’t let him. (pg. 61).”

Life at sea is also lonely for a woman.  There usually aren’t any other women to talk to and the men on the boats aren’t very conversational.  “I love this, but I feel so alone in the way I am loving it (pg 41).”

All of the women interviewed for The Entangling Net had a strong desire for fishing at least at one point in their life.  For some of them it was money or family, but for most of them it was for the love of the sea.  It is because of this love that despite the obstacles and deterrents, women go out on the sea and fish.