Women in commercial fishing say harassment is part of the job: NPR

When Robin McAllistar was working in the commercial fishing industry in the 1970s and 1980s, she was often the only woman on the boat. Once, she said that she was stuck on a boat with a captain who was drinking constantly. She said that he had assaulted her in her room and that she had to push him away.

"I mean physically struggling and trying to get in, out and out," she said. "I have not been raped, but it's only because I'm out."

The next day, she jumped on another boat to get away.

A movement for change

About 15% of commercial fishers in Alaska are women. But it is difficult to say how much McAllistar's experience was common during his fishing season and whether things had changed in the decades that followed.

The Alaska State Human Rights Commission accepts complaints about sexual harassment and discrimination, but says it does not receive more, especially from the fishing sector. The problem for women in the fishing industry is that on a boat, you are stuck with your co-workers for long periods of time.

Elma Burnham is the founder of the tidal force. It's a popular movement asking fishermen, boat captains and others to sign a zero tolerance pledge for sexual harassment and sexual assault.

Burnham herself is fishing for commercial purposes in Alaska and she started organizing in 2017.

"So, I first put the promise online and sent it to people I had worked with in the past," she said. "It was picked up faster than expected."

About 300 people signed it. She spreads the word by organizing networking nights, educational events and conferences. Burnham publishes online the list of those who signed it and she hopes that women will use it to find jobs on boats that take harassment seriously.

"Basically, another way of looking at things is an anti-harassment policy for this group of people," she said.

Finally, she would like to pressure boats and organizations to implement written policies on sexual harassment. But for some, a verbal agreement is enough.

A new direction for the fishing industry

Malcolm Milne owns a fishing boat and runs a crew of four. He is also president of the North Pacific Fisheries Association, a group of commercial stakeholders.

"The only thing I do not approve of is necessarily more paperwork," Milne said. "I have a lot to do like that."

He has no official policy on harassment because he said that he was not as official as that. But he said that he is talking to his team about the problem.

"People recognize that this happens under certain circumstances," he said. "But in the small family boats I'm associated with, I think people do not tolerate anything, so there's not really a problem, in my opinion."

Tips for a friend

Thirty years after working in the fishing industry, McAllistar now works as a therapist. She recently talked about safety in the industry with her friend Jude Huerta, sitting in McAllistar's home in Homer, Alaska.

Huerta wants to market his fish for the first time this year, just as McAllistar fished years ago.

"It's really sad that we have to say it, but it's important to know," said Huerta.

"It's better to say it in advance than to regret it later," McAllistar replied.

Her clearest advice is: "You can bid for a tender when you finish delivering fish," she said. "If things go bad, do not negotiate with them to be dropped later." Get off the boat. "

McAllistar said that there was still a lot of work to be done to tackle the problem, both for large and small boats.

"The truth is that I really like the wild west of the ocean, just as it is and the fleets as they are," she said. "But people should be sexually safe."