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b'This weeks featured guest on Greenhorns Radio is Matt Alward. Matt was born and raised in Berkeley, CA where he grew up working construction with his father. After graduating High School he drove up the Alcan Highway and ended up in Homer, Alaska. He supported himself with construction work and eventually apprenticed to one of the more respected fishing net builders on the west coast. In time he took over the business and founded Bulletproof Nets Inc. which has grown to 14 employees, a business partner, and is on the leading edge of innovation in design and materials in purse seine nets. His commercial fishing carrier began more than two decades ago. Matt purchased his first commercial salmon seine boat in 2004 and has been fishing salmon in the summers ever since. He and his wife Renee raised three children in Homer, all of whom have worked or are still working on the family commercial fishing boat. When not out fishing or home building nets, Matt is on many boards and committees in fisheries and marine trades; his current positions include Vice President of United Fishermen of Alaska, Vice President of Homer Marine Trades Association, Treasurer of North Pacific Fisheries Association, Director on Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association board, finance committee Co-Chair for Seafood Harvesters of America, and a member of the steering committee for Maritime Works: An Alaska Careers Partnership. He puts time into these organizations to help influence policy to protect and insure sustainable, accountable fisheries and the marine trades that go along with them for now and generations to come. andnbsp;'