The province’s inshore fishing industry is facing a demographic crisis which the FFAW is working to address.

President Dwan Street says the average age of an inshore harvester is 54, and there are fewer people entering the industry.

Street says contrary to popular perception, the fishery is far from dead but is a lucrative and valuable contributor to the provincial economy.

She says while fishing enterprises were traditionally passed down in families, that’s no longer a given.

The union has launched a campaign to raise awareness about a fishing career, and attract more people to the industry.

Street says people are having fewer children and many rural communities have seen significant outmigration in the last few decades.

“Whether it’s trying to recruit those people to come back and take over family enterprises, or recruit new folks into the industry that have no connection, I think there’s a place for both.”