Some of us are lucky enough to have jobs that provide benefits, such as healthcare and paid time off. But for commercial fishermen, there is no human resources office at sea.
Fishing Partnership Support Services is a local nonprofit that's trying to fill that gap for fishermen and their families.
CAI’s Gilda Geist spoke with Tracy Sylvester, regional navigator with Fishing Partnership, to learn more about how her organization supports fishermen in coastal Massachusetts.
Gilda Geist What does Fishing Partnership Support Services do, and who does it serve?
Tracy Sylvester I'm a regional navigator at Fishing Partnership, helping fishing families all over coastal Massachusetts. Fishing Partnership serves family-owned fishing businesses run by independent fishermen. We have offices in New Bedford, Gloucester, Chatham and Plymouth. Being a commercial fisherman is not easy, so that's where Fishing Partnerships steps in to support local commercial fishermen with our community health programs, top-notch safety trainings, financial guidance and support for the unique personal issues that fishing families face.
GG You have a background in fishing and being part of a fishing family. Can you tell me a little bit about how that experience informs your work?
TS Before I came to Fishing Partnership, I lived up in Sitka, Alaska where I was a commercial fisherman. We harvested wild salmon, halibut and black cod, and we still do that in the summers as much as we can even though we're living back here in Massachusetts. There's nothing like Fishing Partnership in Alaska. When I was commercial fishing full-time up there, it was really challenging to figure out how to access health care as a small business owner. Each fishing boat you can think of as a small business. We have wildly fluctuating income, so it can be really hard to estimate our income when we go to apply. Between juggling the logistics of commercial fishing with the whole family on board—I fished with my partner and our two small kids—it was really hard for me to find time to figure out our health care, figure out how to meet our basic needs when we're back on land. When we are out there, we're not able to get online, make phone calls and keep our life on land on track. The challenges with accessing affordable health insurance and the related quality of care issues in Alaska was the tipping point that prompted us to move back to Massachusetts in 2019. This wasn't a decision that we made lightly. It was really difficult to give up everything we'd built up there and come back here. But health care is just so important, and the stress of worrying about losing it was too much on top of all the challenges of being a commercial fisherman. So we came back with the idea that we would keep fishing up there in the summers, market our catch back here in New England and find some kind of balance between the two states and get the best of both worlds. Then COVID hit and we ended up staying here longer. So we sold our boat after a couple of years of struggling to get up there and work our boat and live here, and that's when I started working with Fishing Partnership.
GG What has been your favorite part of the job so far?
TS My favorite part of the job is doing work that is needed in my community—making health care more accessible by helping people navigate the application process and find the care once they're covered. I love that the fishing community created Fishing Partnership. [I see] how much fishermen do to bring food to our plates and how brave they are to go out there in all conditions and make it happen, and with all this financial pressure, all this regulatory pressure, they still get out there and they do it. So it's just an honor to be serving this community.
GG What are some of the harder parts of your job?
TS We're facing potential funding cuts that will undercut the work that we currently do. NIOSH, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, has funded a lot of our safety program work. There's been major cuts there. Also, cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act will make it harder for us to do this work, impacting our community's access to quality, affordable healthcare.
GG What is something that you think most people don't know or don't understand about being a commercial fisherman?
TS I think many people don't realize that commercial fishermen are vital to the Massachusetts economy and the economy of our nation, our culture and our food systems. Commercial fishermen directly support thousands of jobs across Massachusetts, including the harvesting jobs, processing jobs, boat maintenance, gear supply and all the jobs related to bringing healthy seafood to your plate. Also, jobs in science, fisheries management and policy that supports sustainable fisheries. All of this is under threat due to budget cuts and efforts to shrink the federal government. Another thing I think people don't know about commercial fishermen is that commercial fishermen are not anti-science. They have a vested interest in the conservation of ocean resources. They are stewards of the sea who hold valuable knowledge and how to safely and efficiently harvest food. It's important to think about where your food comes from and the people behind it. Someone pulled that fish out of the ocean for you. Someone shucked all those delicious scallops from their shells, working long shifts under rough conditions at sea. I think people forget that.
