Who am I?

I have been a part of the fishing community for as long as I can remember. Some of my first memories are catching minnows with my Great-Grandfather in the lake in their backyard in Pymatuning, Pennsylvania. He taught me how to bait a hook with them to catch the bigger fish to eat with an old bamboo fishing pole. My parents kept up the lessons with a new Snoopy fishing pole for my 4th birthday, along with a fishing net, Flippers, and a Mask, after all one could not be Jacques Cousteau without them. I have learned a lot since coming to Washington from New York; fishing is different, the fish are different. Subsistence is different. I was taught by my parents growing up that you can take what you need, and if you have extra, share it with those in your neighborhood who might need the boost. Here in Washington, I have had the chance to work within the fishing community from the marina side, it is a business that depends on fishers to frequent it to stay afloat, which is why my first instinct is to not focus within the county that I am working, and only use Pierce County as a backup if I need more data. The Kitsap County community knows me as a graduate student who wants to help the fishing pier communities stay fishing piers, rather than be developed into commercial piers.