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Our study objectives are:
  • To better understand barriers to entry and upward mobility within fisheries among local youth and new fishery participants 
  • To examine geographic, economic, social and cultural factors influencing young people's attitudes towards and level of participation in fisheries
  • To identify models of successful pathways to establishing ownership-level fishing careers
  • To explore and present potential policy responses to address the “graying of the fleet” careers among coastal residents
This study uses a mixed-methods ethnographic approach including key informant and semi-structured interviews, a survey, and a literature review and compilation of data to address the following questions:
  1. What are the perceived and experienced barriers to entry into fisheries, and upward mobility, for local youth and young fishery participants in the Bristol Bay and Kodiak archipelago regions of Alaska? How do these barriers differ by geographic, demographic, and sociocultural variables? 
  2. What geographic, economic, social, and cultural factors influence young people’s attitudes toward and level of participation in fisheries? What are models of successful pathways to establishing ownership-level fishing careers among young residents? 
  3. What policy responses may address the graying of the fleet, including alternative licensing systems and other novel approaches implemented in Alaska and other regions, and how might we best structure alternative models in Alaska?