The Voices from the Fisheries Database is a central repository for oral history interviews related to commercial, recreational, and subsistence fishing in the United States and beyond. Oral history interviews are a powerful way to document the changing human experience with our marine, coastal, and Great Lakes environments and our living marine resources. Each story archived here provides a unique example of this connection collected from fishermen, their spouses, processing workers, shoreside business workers and operators, recreational and subsistence fishermen, scientists, marine resources managers, consumers, the general public and others --all among NOAA's stakeholders.

Separately, each history provides a rich and detailed account of the contributors individual experience. Together, oral histories have the power to illuminate common themes, issues, experiences across diverse populations across space and time. The Voices from the Fisheries Database is a powerful resource available to the public to inform, educate, and provide primary information for researchers interested in our local, human experience with the surrounding marine environment.

We invite you to step inside and explore the world around you through each unique perspective.

For more information, email Voices@noaa.gov