Patrick Fehily, 29 years old at the time of the interview, owns and manages several lobster, gillnet, and scallop boats in Point Pleasant, NJ. Pat did not grow up in a fishing family, but after working as a lobsterboat deckhand in high school and failing to light his spark at college, he decided that fishing was the life for him.

Parker Poole, 31 years old at the time of the interview, runs a marine salvage and towing business and fishes commercially on the side in Portland, ME. Despite lobstering in high school, he did not log enough hours to meet the qualification criteria to receive a Maine lobster license, so he made the decision not to pursue his dream of becoming a full-time fisherman.

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

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.

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

Lyle Peele, 29 years old at the time of the interview, is a fifth generation waterman in Manteo, NC. Lyle and his family have seen the industry change, and his feelings about it are complex. He owns three boats and has diversified his fishing methods to adapt to changing conditions.

Scope and Content Note

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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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. 

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.

Scope and Content Note

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.

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