Paul Swain is a retired auctioneer, lumper, and government worker who has spent his entire life associated with the fishing industry. His father was a fisherman from Newfoundland, and Swain followed in his footsteps, working in various roles on the waterfront. He spent 40 years with the National Marine Fisheries Service before retiring 10 years ago. Swain has held a variety of jobs on the waterfront, including painting, lumping, icing, and working for the Federal government. Jim Dwyer is a lumper and the head of the Lumper's Union.

Jim Dwyer and Paul Swain are seasoned veterans of the fishing industry, residing in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Their extensive experience and deep knowledge of the industry, its history, and its community make them valuable sources of information. 

James William Lawler, born on February 26, 1960, in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada, is a seasoned fisherman and owner of a shipyard. Raised in a small fishing village called Renews, about sixty miles south of St. John's. Lawler comes from a long line of fishermen, with his family's involvement in the industry spanning several generations. His early years were spent fishing for cod from small, open boats, a practice that was later replaced by crab fishing in the mid-80s.

James Ulysses Carter is an 82-year-old African American male born in Northern County, Virginia. He is a retired commercial fisherman and a musician with the Northern Neck Chantey Singers. Carter's career in the fishing industry began after he completed the eleventh grade. He became a captain in 1963 and served in that role for two years before returning to the position of mate. He retired from fishing in 1989.

Janice Marshall is a lifelong resident of Smith Island, Maryland, a small island located in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay. Born and raised in a family with a long history of working the water, Marshall's life has been deeply intertwined with the island and its maritime traditions. Her father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were all watermen, and her father died while working the water. Marshall herself has worked as a crab picker and waterman's wife.

Jay Speakman is a former fisherman with a rich history in the fishing industry. Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Speakman considers Maine his true home, where he has roots going back several generations. His early experiences in fishing began as a child during summers spent on Little Cranberry Island, Maine, where he was introduced to lobster fishing. His career later took him to British Columbia and Alaska in the 1970s, where he engaged in various fishing activities including gill netting herring roe, long lining and seining for halibut, set netting for salmon and King Crabbing.

Jim Ruhle is a third-generation fisherman from Long Island, New York, born in 1948. He spent most of his life in Wanchese, North Carolina, where he continued his family's fishing tradition. Ruhle has two sons, one of whom works with him full-time, and the other part-time, making them the fourth generation in this fishing lineage. Ruhle's family has a rich history in the fishing industry, with his father pioneering the longline swordfish fishery in North Carolina. Ruhle has worked on various fishing boats, including a ninety-foot steel boat he now owns.

Joe Kaknes is a retired fisherman from Gloucester, Massachusetts. He was born in 1950 and grew up in the Bay View neighborhood of Gloucester. His family background is a mix of Greek and Irish heritage. Joe Kaknes is known for his experiences in the fishing industry, particularly swordfishing, and his insights into the challenges and changes faced by fishermen over the years.

Johanna Reichhold is a deckhand, fisher poet, writer, and musician. She hails from Cordova, Alaska. Reichhold, like Bowstern, uses her experiences in the fishing industry to inspire her art. She is of European-American descent. Moe Bowstern was born in 1967 and is a multifaceted artist who works as a deckhand, fisher poet, writer, and musician. She is based in Kodiak, Alaska, but resides in Portland, Oregon. Bowstern has been a part of the Fisher Poets community since 1997 and has participated in the event every year except the second year.

Francisco Ferreira, known as "Captain Jeff," is a respected commercial fisherman with a rich background rooted in his birthplace of Portugal. He has established his homeport in the bustling fishing community of New Bedford, Massachusetts. With a focus on both scalloping and dragging fishing techniques, Captain Jeff operates aboard the fishing vessel Apollo, a remarkable boat holding dual licenses for scalloping and dragging. Beyond his role as a capable mariner, Captain Jeff maintains a strong connection to the family-owned business, F & B Rubberized.