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. They have two daughters, Debra Ann Brown Seab (born June 24, 1956) and Rita Gail Brown Bryant (born September 15, 1959). Brown was a commercial fisherman of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. He also worked for International Paper Company in Moss Point, Mississippi, and from 1953 through 1955, he served in the US Army, achieving the rank of corporal. He is a member of Jackson County Farm Bureau, Jackson County Soil and Water District, and the Gulf of Mexico Program. In 1998 he was awarded the Golden Leaf Award by the Nature Conservancy of Alabama. He was appointed by former Mississippi Governor Kirk Fordice to the Gulf of Mexico Program’s Citizen’s Advisory Committee. Brown was a significant driving force in the creation of Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Pecan, Mississippi. 

Scope and Content Note:
Clyde Leslie Brown, discusses his experiences as a commercial fisherman and his involvement in the Gulf of Mexico Program, which connected him with people from five states to address environmental concerns such as pollution runoff and the dead zone off of Louisiana. Brown also shares insights into the future of commercial fishing in the area and the impact of technological advancements on the younger generation's work attitudes. The conversation delves into the history of the Pecan area, Bayou Heron, and the use of turtle excluder devices. Additionally, Brown reflects on the balance between commercial exploitation and good stewardship, the support received from International Paper, and the indispensable role of commercial fishermen's wives. The interview provides a rich account of Brown's experiences, his perspectives on the fishing industry, and the environmental challenges faced in the Gulf Coast region.

Keywords: Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, fishing, Great Depression, making nets, shrimping, oysters, Bayou Heron, Pecan, Mississippi, Clark Seafood, fishing boats, regulations, advocating for preserving Grand Bay NERR, trammel nets, International Paper Company, EPA Gulf of Mexico Program, TEDs, turtles, reseeding oyster reefs, dredging, duck hunting, pecan pie, red snapper, mullet, loss of wetlands, dead zone in Gulf of Mexico, farm runoff into Mississippi River Watershed/Gulf of Mexico, pollution, BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Disaster, speckled trout, tourism, Hurricane Katrina, Bonnet Carre Spillway, Morganza Spillway, Nine Mile Lake Stream, conchs, finfishing, fish excluder devices, Chesapeake Bay, brown pelicans, restoring barrier islands.