Fish Tales: Just 26, Shana Kuhse has been fishing and lobstering since she was 14
Stonington — Growing up along the banks of the Thames River in Gales Ferry, Shana Kuhse began fishing for striped bass with her father.
The two went on boat trips to catch tuna and shark.
When she was just 14, a family connection helped her get a summer job on a Town Dock lobster boat.
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So it was of little surprise that when she graduated in 2013 from Ledyard High School, where she said her grades were good and she could have gone to college, Kuhse found herself working at the Town Dock.
"Since I was really too young to know, I said, 'This is what I want to do.' And I just kept rolling with it," she said. "I've never had another job."
She worked her way up from stringing skate together for lobster bait to being the mate on the dragger Jenna Lynn II. In between, she's worked on several boats in the fleet.
The Jenna Lynn II's owner, longtime Town Dock fisherman Bob Guzzo, called Kuhse — one of the few women who work in the fleet — "a phenomenal employee."
"She's tough. She never misses a day," he said. "She's one of the best people I have ever seen on boat."
One day last week, after the Jenna Lynn II returned to the dock from a day of fishing in the thick fog and unloaded its catch, Kuhse hauled totes of skate onto a lobster boat that had pulled up alongside the boat. She rolled heavy barrels of skate into position on the dock.
Like most fishermen, she said there's a level of freedom out on the water that appeals to her. She said she can do what she wants as long as she shows up and does her job.
"I've just always loved the ocean. It's a true escape for me," she said. "And it's nice working with the same small group of people."
As for usually being the only woman on the docks, Kuhse said there's "some bullshit and stupid jokes that come with the job," but everyone is overwhelmingly friendly.
"I've dealt with it for so long, it doesn't even come up anymore," she said, pointing out that similar things happen in other jobs.
Guzzo says young people like Kuhse are the future of the fleet, but she is pessimistic because of the strict regulations, quotas, difficulty in getting licenses and now the potential impact of offshore wind projects.
"I'll hold on as long as I can," she said. "The future doesn't look promising, but you never know."
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