San Diego was once known as the tuna capital of the world, employing more than 40,000 people.

Now there are just 130 commercial fishermen in the county.

The fleet itself plays a part in the decline.

Fishermen are getting older and not many young people are getting into the industry.

Plus, the pays isnt great.

Deckhands earn $50,000 or less per year in San Diego without another job or family support.

It's tough to earn a living wage.

Fishing captains make up to $200,000 a year, but that's gross income and permits, gear and other expenses take a big chunk out of that.

On top of that, it's hard for aspiring fishermen to get hands on experience without a mentor to teach them the ropes.

While a few young commercial fishermen run successful businesses.

Industry experts grapple with the best way to revive a shrinking fleet before it's too late.

As it turns out, there's not much opportunity for young fishermen.

And so you can train them all you want, but there's no opportunity and no way of making money.

It's going to be hard to attract them.

A recent fishing apprenticeship launched by a UC San Diego Scripps Institution of Oceanography is trying to fix that.

While the program has propelled careers for a few, it is also exposed gaps in the industry that prevent fishermen from making a living and discouraged newcomers to the trade.

The program is great if the number of people that are graduating is minimal.

And and how do you get that to change?

Is by changing the opportunity that they have.

You can't have apprentices with nothing to apprentice it to, so it requires a lot of work on the back end to make sure that there's industries that they can get into.

For Cal Matters, I'm Robert Meeks.

With reporting by Deborah Brennan and Adriana Heldiz.