{"id":5276,"date":"2015-12-01T11:44:00","date_gmt":"2015-12-01T16:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/coastwatch\/?page_id=5276"},"modified":"2024-08-27T15:47:29","modified_gmt":"2024-08-27T19:47:29","slug":"business-as-usual-fishing-for-a-living","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/coastwatch\/business-as-usual-fishing-for-a-living\/","title":{"rendered":"BUSINESS AS USUAL: Fishing for a Living"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n
UPDATE: Since this article was published, Micah Daniels’ family sold the Wanchese Fish Company. Daniels, with Matt Huth, opened a fish house in Wanchese called Fresh Catch Seafood.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Few women in North Carolina set their sights on fishing for a living.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Current statistics show only 5.5 percent of the 5,449 commercial fishing license holders in the state are women. That rate varied little over the past decade, according to the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries<\/a>. Anecdotal evidence also indicates that female deck hands, much less captains, are rare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Women working in commercial fishing, however, see few obstacles unique to their gender. They say they face the same challenges as their male counterparts \u2014 long hours, hard work, rough seas, mechanical problems and fluctuating catches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCommercial fishing is punishing and dangerous work, and many \u2018greenhorns\u2019 \u2014 men or women \u2014 quit after the first trip,\u201d notes Sara Mirabilio<\/a>, a North Carolina Sea Grant fisheries specialist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut if a woman proves herself not weak of spirit and a quick learner, she will be accepted. I don\u2019t think there\u2019s gender inequality.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet women’s varied roles may not be as visible. Along the North Carolina coast and beyond, women have a tradition of working in the commercial fishing industry \u2014 hanging nets, picking crabs, shucking scallops, building pots, selling fish, attending fishery management meetings, and working nets and lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFishing is often seen as a male activity, but the paid and unpaid labor of women that goes toward sustaining fisheries and fishing communities often is not recognized,\u201d Mirabilio adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some women working in the industry come from generations of fishing families, while others are newcomers. Take some time to meet a few who work the waters for a living.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shannon Dunn skippers her family\u2019s 32-foot fishing boat from a creek-side berth in Hatteras Village to offshore fishing grounds in search of Spanish mackerel, king mackerel and other fish.<\/p>\n\n\n\nCAPTAIN\u2019S CHALLENGES<\/h2>\n\n\n\n