Reflections from a hard country

Loretto Lee Jones
Wed, 29 Apr 2026 13:45:59 PDT

This collection of stories is memoir, compiled from my experiences working in Alaska's commercial fishing industry during the 1970s and 1980s. Alaska fishermen have always been considered to have one of the most dangerous occupations, but it was in this era, before rationalization and privatization, that incredible risks were taken. Much has changed the way Alaskans fish now, but these sea stories really happened. Now, almost forty years later, these seven stories have come to print. Each serves as a reminder of that time when being Alaskan meant freedom and taking chances, creating extraordinary men and women who faced uncertainty on a daily basis. The characters were and are real people. I choose not use the last names of my friends in order to respect the identities of the families.