LIFE IN WATER

An Ode to the Crew of the F/V Arctic Lady, who each season work tirelessly through some of the toughest conditions Alaska can throw at them. Words from the Ernest Henley poem “Invictus” which speaks to showing courage in the face of death.

Meet Sarah Braund, who came into her own as a commercial fisher after her father passed down a commercial fishing permit to her when she was only 18. Today she is so much more than just a wild salmon commercial fisherman in Bristol Bay...

As brothers and lifelong fishermen on the Bering Sea, Chad and Craig Lowenberg of the F/V Arctic Lady know first-hand about the unimaginable danger of fishing on one of the roughest seas in the world. Total trust, inherent drive and a whole lot of guts is required. 

Cutting his teeth on the frigid waters of Alaska to now working as a professional guide in the Florida gulf, meet Pro Team Member Captain Lionel James whose mental and physical strength personify what it means to be XTRATUF.  

Meet McKenna Peterson, captain of F/V Atlantis and professional skier. No one could ever have imagined McKenna’s story. Her life has taken wild turns that feeds her adrenaline and fuels her to keep persevering. To keep doing.

Meet Weatherly and Greg Bates of Alaska Shellfish Farms. These two Rhode Island natives found their way to Alaska where they chose to plant their family’s roots to harvest oysters, mussels, and kelp in one of the most remote mariculture farms in...

Fishermen are expert storytellers. The more salty the fisherman, the better the story. A fishing mentor of mine likes to tell a story from ‘way back in the day’ during a particularly terrible Alaska salmon fishing opening. The story goes that...

The past year, we have focused on getting wild fish onto people’s plates – through our online direct to door sales and through our Give Fish Project, which donates wild salmon to our community through the Food Bank of Alaska.

My family has been making a living on the water and commercial fishing for hundreds of years, so I suppose it is in our blood. But, unlike my brothers who seemed inclined to be part of it from a young age, there were never any women...

I was an eager young 14 year old innocently arriving to a beautifully-treacherous place where I would learn to love the simplicity of a cup of black coffee and a granola bar. I had just finished school and convinced my parents that I was...