As for wives leaving their commercial fishing husbands…in my experience, it tends to happen at two points in a marriage; immediately after becoming married, or way later on near retirement age. The middle part of the marriage seems to remain intact for the most part. I think that some new wives just don’t realize what they are getting into and don’t like being alone so much, or there are “trust” issues, or they don’t understand the culture or lifestyle enough to jump in and make it work. And then, later, I think some wives have just “had it” and choose to move on after the children are raised and on their way.

On the other hand, though, I know some fishing husbands who have chosen to leave their wives, mostly because of those trust issues. They have returned home hurt and surprised to find their wife has found comfort in the arms of another while they’ve been away, or even had her “boyfriend” temporarily moved into the very house he’s been away working to pay for.

The issue is so convoluted on both sides!