Henry Martinez is a commercial fisherman in the Louisiana wetlands. He was born on November 25, 1942, in Arabi, Louisiana, to Mr. Felipe Martinez Ortega (born on October 4, 1986, in Garrucha, Spain) and Mrs. Mary Molero Martinez (born on February 2, 1908, on Delacroix Island, Louisiana). His father was a fisherman in Spain and around Delacroix Island. As a young man he was a merchant marine and fisherman. His paternal grandparents were fishermen, and his maternal grandparents were farmers. His mother’s father was a fur trapper. On June 3, 1961, Martinez married Joy Treadaway (born October 8, 1941) on Delacroix Island. They have three children, Lisa Marie Martinez Serigne (born April 24, 1962), Rene Joseph Martinez (born January 31, 1964), and Michele Marie Martinez Schwarz (born July 26, 1970). At the time of this interview Martinez was a semiretired commercial fisherman, a career he had enjoyed for all of his working life. He enjoys building model boats. He is a Roman Catholic.

Scope and Content Note:
He talks about commercial fishing, multigenerational fishing family, sport fishing, regulations, overfishing, crabbing, BP Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, freshwater intrusion in Louisiana wetlands, nets, shrimping, trammel net, seine net, gillnet, loss of wetlands, sustainability issues, dredging, suction dredge, barrier islands, Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MR GO), trapping muskrats and nutria for fur, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, love of fishing life, turtle excluder devices, Vessels of Opportunity, market catch, net making, boats, high fuel prices, shrimp factories, Wildlife and Fisheries, changes over his career, favorite seafood, fishing in Spain, auction of catch in Spain.