Hello, I am Yoshi. Form NILS Japanese language school. Today’s topic is the speech Veronica-san made last Thursday. She took our short term program for 2 months last year, and she came to Japan again to learn the Japanese language for a month with us. She talked about her job in Alaska.
Here is her speech in English.

Greetings. I am Frans, Veronica. I come from New Jersey in the United States. Nice to meet you.
In my country, after college has finished and I graduated, I became a fisheries researcher. About 9 months a year, I work in Alaska. As a fisheries scientist, I usually work on fishing boats. Today, I would like to speak with you a little bit about this work.
So, from here on, lets talk about Alaska and fish!
Alaska is pretty big. Its size is perhaps one quarter that of the United States. In order to protect marine mammal and fish species, wherever fishermen go, I go along with them. Every day, morning and night, as the fishermen are fishing, I conduct research. I identify marine mammals and fish, measure and weigh the fish, take notes and such. Afterwards, once the fishing trip has ended, I hand in a report to my company.
In Alaska, I believe that there are about 300 fishing vessels. Of those vessels, there are three types. The first type is a trawler. Fishing is done using a large net and during a haulback, such nets can catch rockfish, for example, such as these shown here. Also atka mackerel, and even sometimes sharks. The next type is a longliner. A long line is thrown into the water and then left for some time and then the fish come and are caught on hooks. In this way, fishing is made possible. The boat type is a pot boat. They can fish by using large pots, throwing them in the water, and like longliners waiting for a while for the fish to come. Then crab and fish like cod would enter the pots.
Of those 300 fishing vessels, I think I’ve been on about 40. And in my 3 years of work as a fisheries scientist, I’ve accomplished 385 sea days.
Life at sea can be pretty difficult. In the ocean, as the seas can be rough, I get seasick. Also, I’m usually the only female onboard. But, I have gotten used to it, and I do find it all interesting.
My life will soon change. In April, I will be entering grad school, so if I return to NILS sometime, I’m sure we will have something new to talk about.
Thank you.

Veronica’s Speech

Feb. 25th News, from NILS Japanese langauge school.