An Unofficial Community Survey — Commercial Fishing Community, Alaska 2026
Nobody asked for this survey. Made it anyway.
This is not about management bodies, quota allocations, or sustainability metrics. This is about the unfiltered, unspoken, and occasionally unhinged reality of life on a commercial fishing vessel. Answer honestly. No one is watching.
1. How are you connected to the commercial fishing industry?
■ Deckhand / crew member ■ Tender crew ■ Captain / vessel owner ■ Processor / shore worker ■ Family member (bless your heart) ■ Other: _______________
2. How many years have you been connected to commercial fishing?
■ Less than 3 years (greenhorn) ■ 3–10 years (you survived) ■ 10–20 years (institutionalized) ■ More than 20 years (no further questions)
3. What is the most expired food you have eaten on a commercial fishing vessel? How expired was it and was it tasty?
4. What is your go-to strategy when the galley situation becomes genuinely dire?
■ Condiment sandwiches ■ Pretend you're not hungry ■ Eat something anything random available ■ Blame the greenhorn for eating everything ■ Other: _______________
5. What is the dumbest mistake you have made on a vessel? Be specific. No one is judging you.
6. What is the fastest you have seen someone go from confident to completely lost on a vessel?
■ Within the first hour ■ By the end of day one ■ Midway through the first opener ■ They never recovered ■ I was that person
7. What are your favorite psychological tactics when dealing with greenhorns or incompetent crew? Describe in detail.
8. What is the most creative excuse you have heard from a crew member trying to get out of work?
9. On a scale of 1–5, how would you rate your current or most recent crew's collective ability to function as human beings? 1 = barely sentient 5 = suspiciously competent
10. What is the one unwritten rule of the vessel that nobody tells you but everyone enforces?
11. What is something you did or said in your first season that you still think about?
FINAL QUESTION
12. What is the one thing about commercial fishing that sounds completely insane to people on land — but makes perfect sense to you?
This is an independent community project with no agenda except documentation and a genuine appreciation for this industry's chaos. Responses are anonymous. Share widely.