December 22, 2020 — Ken Baughman has fished since he was a kid and loves being on the water. The Falmouth resident, smart and determined, bought a second-hand motor, built his own boat and launched his career as a commercial fisherman this summer.
It has been tough going.
“It’s virtually impossible. You really have to come in as an apprentice,” he said.
That may soon be a possibility as the Young Fishermen’s Development Act passed Congress this week.
The act, modeled after the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s successful Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program, creates the first federal program dedicated to training the next generation of commercial fishermen and includes an apprenticeship program to connect retiring fishermen and vessel owners with new and beginning fishermen.
It provides education in sustainable and accountable fishing practices, marine stewardship, successful business practices, and technical initiatives that address the needs of beginning fishermen through a competitive grants program for collaborative state, tribal, local, or regionally-based networks or partnerships.
“The Young Fishermen’s Development Act is crucial to the success of the Cape’s small-boat fleets and the communities that rely on commercial fishing, an industry that helped build the peninsula and is a vital part of the new blue economy,” said John Pappalardo, CEO of the Chatham-based Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance.