"Brooke, Erin and Emma are part of a handful of young women now edging their way into Britain’s fishing fleet. They call themselves fishermen, not fisherwomen. Twenty-year-old rookie Brooke has been nominated for a trainee fisherman award, Erin works on a trawler, hauling prawns for up to a fortnight at a time in the far-flung waters of the North Atlantic, and 19-year-old Emma is the skipper of her own creel boat. As crews age and vessels lie idle for lack of hands, their stories ask whether ‘female fishermen’ could save the industry – and whether the old guard will let them work alongside them."
Erin's comment, as she made her way down to the boat to sail, was the most telling of the night and a hint as to why the industry has problem recruiting youngsters - while the others were off enjoying a glass of bubbles at the annual Fishing News Awards in Aberdeen she was off to sea on another ten day trip. It seems to be a pattern around the coast that most of the local youngsters coming into the industry are local and looking to work on day boats.
To be fair, there haver always been women in fishing, they've just never made it on TV before!
