Edward Barrett
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.
Sharon Pollard-Waldron
On September 26, 2009, an unknown interviewer interviewed Edward Barrett as part of the Working Waterfront Festival Community Documentation Project. Growing up in a small coastal town, Edward got into the fishing industry early on and currently fishes out of Green Harbor and Plymouth. Today, he is President of the Massachusetts Fisherman’s Partnership and has been heavily involved in the management process. In this interview, Edward emphasizes the importance of the fishing industry to the fabric of New England as he shares his insight into various issues and concerns facing the industry today such as trip limits, species restrictions, differential counting, rolling closures, catcher allocation programs, and consolidation. He also explains his involvement in actions that are being taken to help the local fishermen. In sharing his views on the major changes he has seen in the industry from the eighties to the present, Edward describes the complications of new regulations and restrictions and explains how they play into his regular fishing trips and responsibilities as a commercial fisherman. Edward shares his concern over the loss of community fishing ports and also touches upon major projects, acts, and legal battles affecting the local industry as well as the importance of and current state of interactions between the fishing industry and local residents, tourists, and recreational fishermen of the Marshfield and Plymouth communities.
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