Jake Eaton, 26 years old at the time of the interview, works as his father-in-law's sternman on the F/V Last Penny and operator of a lobster skiff, the F/V Eyesore in Portsmouth, NH. He comes from a long line of fishing families in Downeast Maine, and he finds it fulfilling to continue the family tradition. He grew up in Seacoast New Hampshire and went to high school in Dover. His father and grandfather were involved in fishing, with his grandfather being a lobsterman.

Jake Griffin, 27 years old at the time of the interview, is a North Carolina fisherman specializing in niche fisheries such as shark fishing and the haul seine fishery (a traditional method of fishing from the beach with a skiff and a truck). Located at an ecological boundary, he targets various populations of sharks as they migrate down from the North and up from the South throughout the year. Jake's biggest worry is that public misunderstanding about the shark fishery will lead to management measures that shut him out of the fisheries he has invested in.

James Leonard, 34 years old at the time of the interview, is the owner-operator of the F/V Briana James, an inshore dragger in Point Judith, RI. James comes from a fishing family and spent his twenties working on large offshore freezer vessels to save money. Then, with indispensable moral support from his wife and the boat-building expertise of his extended family, he brought a boat down from Nova Scotia and spent over a year rebuilding it for dragging in Rhode Island.

Scope and Content Note

James Reilly, 33 years old at the time of the interview, is a captain of a clam vessel based out of Oceanside, NY and Atlantic City, NJ. James grew up on Long Island as the son of a fisherman, and despite discouragement from his mother, he wound up working as crew for his father and then taking over his father's captain job when his father retired. He operates the fishing vessel Ocean Girl, targeting surf clams and ocean quahogs with hydraulic dredges. 

Jared Bennett, 29 years old at the time of the interview, is owner-operator of the F/V White Cap, a gillnet vessel, with his younger brother and a friend, going on 36-hour fishing trips targeting monkfish, skates, and dogfish out of Chatham and Harwichport, MA. Jared bought his gillnet license and started fishing without any prior experience as a deckhand. 

Joe Kowalsky, 31 years old at the time of the interview, is an oyster farmer and fishermen in Milford, Bridgeport, and Stratford, CT. He owns and operates multiple boats, including the Sea Skimmer, LeClair, Mohawk, and a Carolina skiff. Joe is primarily focused on oyster farming but also engages in wild fisheries for additional income. He found his way to fishing after putting aside societal notions that there is no money to be made on the water.

Kelsey Aiken, 29 years old at the time of the interview, is a fisherman and co-manager (along with his brother) of a fish packing house in Hatteras, NC founded by his father. The company focuses mainly on gillnet fishing for flounder and sells a range of seafood caught in the Pamlico Sound and the ocean to a variety of markets, including New York's Fulton Fish Market, Boston, Canada, California, and local outlets.

Scope and Content Note

Ken Murgo, 31 years old at the time of his interview, is a diversified fisherman in Narragansett Bay, RI. With his father, Ken fishes for conchs, lobsters, quahogs, and a variety of different finfish on the F/V Johnny B. In his interview, he talks about his parents' expectations that he would enter medical school after college, his inevitable return to full-time fishing in spite of these expectations, and the interest he feels in fisheries science and cooperative research.

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Lenny Russo, 27 years old at the time of his interview, describes working as the relief captain of a fleet boat in Portland, ME, after growing up working on a family fishing boat in Gloucester MA. Lenny is also the owner-operator of a seasonal salmon gillnet vessel in Bristol Bay, AK. 

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Lucas Raymond, 28 years old at the time of the interview, is a deckhand and relief captain on the F/V Witchcraft in Rye, NH.

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