Edward “Eddie” Fortes
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.
Tove E. Bendiksen
On September 25, 2004, Millie Rahn interviewed Eddie Fortes as part of the Working Waterfront Festival Community Documentation Project. Fortes discusses the process of cutting fish, his entry into the field, and the changes in the industry, such as the absence of unions and the prevalence of minimum-wage jobs held by people who cannot speak English. Eddie believes that cutting fish by hand will never die out because they get a better fillet and percentage with a hand cutter compared to a machine. He discusses his family’s involvement in the waterfront as fishermen, and he shares a story of his uncles and father making a record swordfish catch in the 1920s. While he acknowledges the work is hard and there are many challenges, he couldn’t imagine doing anything else.
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