Antonio Perreira
The Working Waterfront Festival Community Documentation Project
This project documents the history and culture of the commercial fishing industry and other port trades. The project began in 2004 in conjunction with the Working Waterfront Festival, an annual, educational celebration of commercial fishing culture which takes place in New Bedford, MA. Interviewees have included a wide range of individuals connected to the commercial fishing industry and/or other aspects of the port through work or familial ties. While the majority of interviewees are from the port of New Bedford, the project has also documented numerous individuals from other ports around the country. Folklorist and Festival Director Laura Orleans and Community Scholar and Associate Director Kirsten Bendiksen are project leaders. The original recordings reside at the National Council for the Traditional Arts in Maryland with listening copies housed at the Festival's New Bedford office.
Laura Orleans
On September 25, 2010, Mark Starr interviewed Antonio Perreira for the Working Waterfront Festival Community Documentation Project. Antonio Perreira also known as "Tony the Plumber," has worked as a full-time pipe fitter on the waterfront since 1976. Antonio discusses his childhood in Portugal before he immigrated to New Bedford at the age of 13. He chronicles how he started learning plumbing, and eventually started working on fishing vessels. Of working on the waterfront, he says “everybody welcomed me with open arms…They had something to give me other than money. And I had something to give them other than money.” He reflects on his work and the various challenges he faced, including the increased amount of damage salt water does to pipes, and the changes he’s noticed in the fishing industry since stricter regulations were introduced.
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