Michael Sissenwine was born in 1947. He earned his B.S. in Physics and Mathematics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and his M.S. in Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island. He began working as a scientist at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center at Woods Hole in 1975, eventually rising to the position of Center Director at the Woods Hole lab and later, Director of Scientific Programs and Chief Science Advisor at NOAA Fisheries.

Interview with Michele Longo Eder.

Interview with Michelle Cottrell

Mike Le is a Vietnamese-American shrimper living in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Mr. Mike Le was born in 1953 near the town of Rach Gia in the Kien Giang Province of South Vietnam, where his family had a coconut and rice farm. In addition to farming, his father taught martial arts.  Mr. Le escaped from Vietnam by boat with his uncle, cousins, and others, totally fifty-two people, in 1978. After spending five months in Pulau Tengah, Malaysia, he landed in Lawton, Oklahoma in 1979. Soon after, Mr.

Interview topics include background and how participant began fishing, social ties and connections, changes in fishing, Kodiak history, changes in fisheries management, rationalization, changes in crab fishery, ability of new crew to enter fishery, cyclic species patterns, and local knowledge of fishermen.

Mr. Milton Zirlott is a retired commercial fisherman on the Gulf Coast. Zirlott was born on December 29, 1925, to Ellis Zirlott (born 1898 in Fowl River, Alabama) and Nittie Rhodes Zirlott (born around 1906 in Bayou LaBatre, Alabama). His father was a commercial shrimp fisherman and a boat-builder. His mother’s father was a net-maker. Zirlott went to school at Alba in Bayou LaBatre, Alabama. He had one brother, Robert Zirlott.

Mr. Muoi Pham is a Vietnamese-American living in New Orleans who is a tuna boat deckhand. Pham was born, the youngest of ten children, on October 8, 1957, in Phan Thiet, Vietnam. His parents originated from North Vietnam; his father fled from the Viet Minh to Phan Thiet where he met Mr. Pham’s mother. Mr. Pham quit school to begin fishing with his father, as deckhands, at age eighteen in Phan Thiet, a fishing village. Mr. Pham was imprisoned in reeducation camp in 1977 but escaped after two weeks.

Interview with Nancy Fitzpatrick

Dr. Nancy Thompson was born in September 1949 in Newark, New Jersey. She earned her PhD from the University of Rhode Island. Dr. Thompson worked for NOAA from 1980-2011, serving as the Director at both the Southeast and Northeast Fisheries Science Centers during her career. At the time of this interview in 2016, she was working at the University of South Florida’s College of Marine Science.

Nicholas Alfonso was born on May 23, 1965, in New Orleans, Louisiana, to Jerry and Ramona Alfonso. He is married to Lisa Christofi Alfonso, and they have two children, Kristy and Misty. Alfonso is a commercial fisherman and a member of the St. Bernard Coastal Advisory Board and the Knights of Columbus. He was interviewed by Stephanie Scull-DeArmey for the University of Southern Mississippi Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage on April 24, 2012. Alfonso currently resides in Louisiana and has been a commercial fisherman for a significant period.