Fishing Industry Scholarships probably isn’t a term that you hear everyday.
In fact, only recently have organizations and corporations begun to offer free money for college to students who have an interest in, or who are involved in the fishing industry in some capacity. This means that for people who are interested in entering colleges and universities, now is a great time to start looking for that extra boost of scholarships money to make your interest or experience with the fishing industry pay off.
Scholarships for the fishing industry generally fall into one of three main categories: Corporate scholarships for fishing industry employees, Agricultural scholarships for fishing studies, and sports scholarships for recreational fishing.
These are obviously vastly different from each other there is not set criteria or average award for a fishing scholarship but the fact that there are so many types of fishing scholarships means that students have many opportunities to get extra financial help for college, from a variety of organizations, corporations, educational institutions and community agencies that all have fishing and the fishing industry in common.
Scholarships for Agriculture and Fish Studies are much like other scholarships for agricultural studies in that they are are generally concentrated within regions or groups of colleges and universities that have prominent fishing studies programs. Many of these programs exist in coastal states like Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California and Maine, where the fishing industry is more popular and access to fisheries is more likely. Another recent trend for agricultural or agro-fishing scholarships is funding for international study. Since many developing countries rely on fishing as a major source of revenue for their economies, many American and Canadian students can benefit from scholarships to travel abroad and learn more about how these industries work, and to provide collaborative opportunities to learn about techniques and best practices in the fishing industry. For example, the American Association of University Women (better known as the AAUW) offers scholarships in developing countries for Master’s and PhD students in various agricultural fields, including fishery studies.
Another major source of fishing industry scholarship funding are major seafood corporations, which offer scholarships to current employees and their families to reward their community for helping to make the companies successful. Many of these scholarships are concentrated in certain areas of the United States and Canada that are either in close proximity to fisheries, seafood factories, or in the communities most served by the company. Icicle Seafood, for example, offers more than $200,000 in endowed scholarships to the University of Alaska system to offer scholarships of various amounts to students of all types, in addition to their employee assistance program.
In addition, because of the dangers associated with working in the fishing industry, many community organizations have also made scholarships for college available to the dependents of those fisherman who lost their lives at sea.
The Central Coast Women for Fisheries offers Fishing Heritage Scholarships to central California students who are family members of lost fisherman, in order to ease the burden associated not only with going to college, but with doing so in light of the loss of a parent and subsequent loss of income.
Finally, there are scholarships available for people who fish for sport. While these may not be as popular as football and basketball scholarships, there are still opportunities available for college fisherman if you know where to look. Fishing scholarships are definitely new, but even the New York Times recently profiled Bethel University the first college to offer scholarships to competitive bass fisherman! Unity College in Maine offers and annual Fishing for Scholarships tournament, where students literally fish for scholarships dollars depending on your angling ability, you could catch scholarships worth up to $5,000 for the semester!
As you can see, scholarships for the fishing industry are quickly becoming more an more popular, and many colleges and universities are looking for ways to support their students who are involved in fishing in whatever capacity that might be!
Icicle Seafoods Scholarship >>> (& more)