Mr. Walter Eley Ross Sr. is a retired commercial fisherman on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.  He was born on March 16, 1924, in Biloxi, Mississippi,to Mr. and Mrs. Adolph Ross. His father was a commercial fisherman, house builder, and boat builder. His mother was a housewife. Mr. Ross began fishing with his father commercially when he was a teenager, and he continued in that profession for fifty-three years. Ross also served in the US Air Force, achieving the rank of sergeant. He is a Catholic.

Mr. Gerald William Bosarge was born on November 13, 1934, in Pecan, Mississippi, to Mr. Charles Bosarge and Mrs. Bosarge (born Saksa, in Finland). He is married to Mrs. Harriet Janice Zirlott (born in Coden, Alabama on June 27, 1945). They have two children, Gerald William Bosarge Jr. and Lori Ann Bosarge. At the time of this interview, Mr. Bosarge was retired from commercial fishing, and after forty years of fishing for a living, he currently fishes for fun and sustenance. He is from a multi-generational fishing family, with ancestors who fished on both sides of his family. 

Mr. Oscar Sanzin was born October 15, 1925, in Yugoslavia. When he was thirteen years old, the Nazis overran his hometown in Yugoslavia, destroying the town and killing its occupants. Sanzin escaped and served in the Resistance. He was later a prisoner of war in Germany, and he was taken to Africa in the hold of a ship as a slave laborer. He was liberated by the Americans, and he immigrated to the United States where he became a commercial fishermen on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. On June 22, 1950, in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, he married Helen Martin (born July 12, 1930).

Mr. Clyde Leslie Brown was born July 1, 1932, in Pecan, Mississippi, to Nathaniel Richard Brown (born November 22, 1901, in Canoe, Alabama) and Mary Edna Stork Brown (born February 28, 1906, in Pecan, Mississippi). His father was a farmer who ran a general store in Canoe, Alabama, and his mother was a housewife. His mother’s father was a commercial fisherman in Jackson County, Mississippi, who ran a general store in Pecan, Mississippi. On September 4, 1955, he married Annie Marie Jones.

Mr. Joseph D. Jewel (b. 1957) is deputy director of the Office of Marine Fisheries at the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources. He was born in 1959 on the Mississippi Gulf Coast in the small fishing community in east Biloxi known as the Point. His parents were Mr. Thomas Jewell and Mrs. Betty Jane Seymour Jewell. He was the second son in a family of six sons and one daughter. Following the return of his parents to his father’s ancestral home in Oregon, Joe was raised by his maternal grandparents in a commercial fishing family.

Jennifer M. Buchanan is an educator at the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, serving as the education coordinator. She has been involved in oral history projects, particularly focused on capturing the experiences and knowledge of individuals with a deep understanding of the coastal areas. Buchanan's work involves collaborating with researchers to design and conduct studies to understand significant events and changes in the coastal environment.

Mr. Thomas J. Schultz Jr. is a retired commercial fisherman in Biloxi, Mississippi. He was born on October 22, 1932, in Biloxi, Mississippi, to Mr. Thomas J. Schultz Sr. (born June 25, 1907, in Bon Secour, Alabama) and Mrs. Ophelia A. Quigley Schultz (born November 25, 1908, in Biloxi, Mississippi). His father was a fisherman and a boatbuilder. His father’s paternal lineage was Danish. His maternal lineage was Mississippi Native American. His mother was a housewife who also worked in the seafood processing industry.

Bryan E. Cumbie is a commercial fisherman from Bayou LaBatre, Alabama. Cumbie began his fishing career in 1996, following in the footsteps of his uncle, Billy Johnson, who taught him the trade. He has been involved in commercial fishing since the 1970s and has spent most of his life in Bayou LaBatre. Cumbie's experience in the fishing industry spans several decades, and he has witnessed the impact of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Disaster on the Gulf Coast fisheries. 

Lloyd “Wimpy” Serigne Lloyd Serigne is a retired fisherman from St. Bernard, Louisiana. He was born on March 3, 1940, to John Serigne (born on Delacroix Island, Louisiana, in 1893) and Emily Perez Serigne (born on Delacroix Island, Louisiana, about 1900). His father was a commercial fisherman. In his family of origin, Spanish was spoken, which Serigne remembers and speaks. Serigne began fishing as a child with his father, and he fished commercially on a part-time basis, in the Louisiana wetlands, throughout his life.

Hilton Floyd is a lifelong fisherman on the Gulf Coast in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Mr. Hilton Floyd was born on September 15, 1956, in Jacksonville, Florida, to Mr. Hilton Floyd Sr. (born in Mayport, Florida) and Mrs. Helen Cooper Floyd (born in Mayport, Florida). His siblings are two older brothers, three older sisters, and one younger sister. Floyd’s mother was a schoolteacher, and his paternal grandfather was a dredge boat operator. His mother’s family were shrimpers. He is married to Rhonda Olier Floyd (born November 7, 1956, in South Korea).