Edward “Eddie” Fortes
The Working Waterfront Festival Community Documentation Project
The Working Waterfront Festival Community Documentation Project is an ongoing oral history project documenting the history and culture of the commercial fishing industry and other port trades. The project was begun in 2004 in conjunction with the Working Waterfront Festival, an annual, education 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/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
Edward "Eddie" Fortes, a former fish cutter, worked on the New Bedford waterfront for 35 years. Eddie's father was a sword fisherman and his family owned three fishing boats. His taught Carlos Rafael how to cut fish and was once the fastest fish cutter in the city. Eddie has two daughters, one is a school teacher in the New Bedford High School system and is also a gymnastics teacher for the city of New Bedford, while the other is a veterinarian in New Jersey who used to be a New England Patriots cheerleader.
Scope and Content Note
Fortes discusses the process of cutting fish and how it takes six months to learn to cut fish. He also talks about 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 describes how he had to buy his own knives, gloves, aprons, and boots when he started cutting fish and how the leftovers went to pet food. 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. Eddie talks about his family and their involvement in the waterfront. His uncles owned a fishing boat together and his father was on a fishing boat years ago. They made a record swordfish catch in the 1920s, and he had a lobster that he had caught while fishing that gave 23 pounds of meat, which was a record. Eddie mentions that cutting fish was hard on his hands, but after getting used to it, it was like nothing. He talks about the importance of being on his feet and getting into a rhythm while cutting fish.
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