Hilton Floyd is a lifelong fisherman on the Gulf Coast in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Mr. Hilton Floyd was born on September 15, 1956, in Jacksonville, Florida, to Mr. Hilton Floyd Sr. (born in Mayport, Florida) and Mrs. Helen Cooper Floyd (born in Mayport, Florida). His siblings are two older brothers, three older sisters, and one younger sister. Floyd’s mother was a schoolteacher, and his paternal grandfather was a dredge boat operator. His mother’s family were shrimpers. He is married to Rhonda Olier Floyd (born November 7, 1956, in South Korea). They have three grown sons, Frank, Daniel and Dale, and one grown daughter, Wendi. At the time of this interview, they had six grandchildren. Throughout Floyd’s life he has fished US coastal waters, off of Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama. He has fished commercially for a living, and also to obtain fresh seafood for his family to eat. He has served as captain of a research vessel with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and as a fisheries advisor to them. He served as president of Save America’s Seafood Industry until the organization dissolved. Floyd enjoys woodworking as a hobby. After living in Pascagoula for thirty years, he calls it home.

Scope and Content Note:
He discusses fishing along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, beach seines, gillnets, shrimp trawls, regulations on fisheries, linen nets, cast nets, mullet, hook-and-line fishing, black drum, redfish, marketing catch, seafood landings Port of Pascagoula, shrimping, costs of fishing, challenges of fishing, rewards of fishing, ecological changes, wetlands, Mississippi Sound, Gulf of Mexico, oysters, climate change, crabs, bait boats, sea turtles, Hurricane Katrina, BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Vessels of Opportunity, lost-wages claims to BP, tar balls, corrupt regulations, Bonnet Carre Spillway freshwater diversion.