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Commercial fishing in Alaska was once known as one of the deadliest professions. It's still pretty dangerous, but the number of fatalities each year is trending downward.

The U.S. Coast Guard announced in October that over a recent yearlong period, not one commercial fisherman had perished at sea while working.

The Coast Guard says that's the first time the industry has had a spotless record. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game reports that in the 1980s, an average of 31 fishermen died at sea each year. But starting in the 1990s, the number of commercial fishing deaths started declining, by 67% from 1991 to 1999.

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