This is one of a set of 15 oral histories with Portuguese immigrant fishermen who worked out of the port of New Bedford. The project was sponsored by a NOAA Preserve America grant. In this interview Manuel Catulo talks about his life in Portugal, including his experience aboard a freighter and living under the Salazar dictatorship. He also describes how he came to the U.S., his experience as a fisherman and boat owner and his hobby making boat models. In addition, he provides information on social and cultural practices among Portuguese fishing families in New Bedford

This is one of a set of 15 oral histories with Portuguese immigrant fishermen who worked out of the port of New Bedford. The project was sponsored by a NOAA Preserve America grant. In this interview, Manuel Pedro Pereira talks extensively about his childhood his Portugal, his military service in Angola and his involvement with professional soccer prior to emigrating to the U.S. and becoming a fisherman.

This is one of a set of 15 oral histories with Portuguese immigrant fishermen who worked out of the port of New Bedford. The project was sponsored by a NOAA Preserve America grant. In this interview, Mr. Vinagre talks about his life in Portugal prior to coming to the U.S., including his experience aboard the Portuguese cod-fishing boats, coming to the U.S. and his father's death at sea.

Marie (Riena) Ligenza, 58, is married to commercial fisherman Ted Ligenza, who fishes out of Chatham, MA. They have three sons that are also commercial fishermen, though she is not from a fishing family herself. Her husband and sons all fish mainly inshore, her husband for fish and her sons for shellfish. Mrs. Ligenza tries to separate herself from the intricacies of fishing, beyond it supporting her family and her doing finances for her husband's fishing.

Mary Brown, 52, is married to commercial fisherman Chris Brown who fishes out of Point Judith, Rhode Island. Mr. Brown has been involved in fisheries since he was a little boy and currently fishes inshore, predominantly for groundfish. Mrs. Brown?s husband is a member of sector 5. She believes that sector management allows him to catch fish more economically and predictably.

Matthew Peabody, 30 years old at the time of the interview, is a scallop boat captain out of Newport News, VA. He's the fourth generation in his family to work on the water. Matthew's family sold their fleet of scallop boats to Blue Harvest, a company that has expanded into a larger fleet. He now operates two scallop boats for that company, the Blue Canyon and the Blue Cove.

Scope and Content Note

Mike Blanton, 33 years old at the time of the interview, is a blue crab and gillnet fisherman in Elizabeth City, NC. Mike operates multiple vessels for different fisheries in the Albemarle Sound area. He started fishing as a teenager after taking a summer job at a crab house. After a decade in the military and government contracting, he returned to the coast to fish full-time.

Nicole Saunders, 20 years old at the time of the interview, oysters and charter fishes with her father in Weems, VA. With the exception of a semester of college, which didn't captivate her attention, Nicole has spent her entire life around the water. Nicole's family has a long history in the waterman profession, with her dad and his grandfather being watermen.

Scope and Content Note

Niles Pearsall, 44, is a commercial fisherman out of Point Judith, Rhode Island. He began fishing after high school and now fishes for groundfish or squid up to 100 miles south of New England. He is a member of Sector 5. He believes that sectors are a good idea, but that everyone needs more quota. Sector management has led to rifts in the fishing community, largely as a result of the disparity in quota allocation. Mr. Pearsall believes that his quality of life is the same, due in part to his wife's income which has made up for his loss in income.

Olive Smith is one of the original members of the Harris Neck community in McIntosh County Georgia. In her oral history, she explains how her mother provided food for the family by picking oysters at low tide during the winters and catching crabs. Olive's account is a brief glimpse of what life was like for the women of this fishing community.