Patricia Gerrior was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts and grew up in Weymouth, Massachusetts where she would spend time on the water with her father which led to her interest in marine science. She studied Biology at Colby College in Waterville, Maine and began her 40 year career during her junior year in college with the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries which became NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service.

Trish DiCienzo was born in Brockton, Massachusetts in the year 1963, the oldest of four kids. She married at age 18 and moved out to Boston for 22 years then moved to West Roxbury, Massachusetts where she worked in the police department. Later, she moved to Lakeville so she could work at a processing plant in New Bedford. Shortly afterward she was asked to transfer to Maritime Terminal where she works today.

Reidar Bendiksen is a Norwegian immigrant who moved to the United States at the age of sixteen. Born into a fishing family, he began his fishing career in Norway at the age of fourteen. His father, who was also a fisherman, immigrated to the U.S. in 1951 and owned several fishing vessels in New Bedford. Reidar followed in his father's footsteps, spending his first five to six years in the U.S. fishing on a sub chaser that saw action in Normandy during the invasion.

Renee Rusco is a commercial fisherman and cook originally from Mississippi. Born and raised in the Mississippi delta, Rusco left her home at the age of eighteen to seek adventure and see the world . She spent a significant amount of time in Houston, Texas before moving to the Pacific Northwest, specifically Portland, Oregon, Vancouver, Washington, and eventually settling in Astoria, Oregon where she lives on a fishing boat. Rusco has fished from Alaska down the Pacific Coast and has earned respect in her field by always pulling her weight.

Description of the job of the tankerman, a licensed position on a fuel barge. Explanation about the benefit of fueling from a barge rather than a truck. Description of changes in fishing and scalloping since 1977. Demographic changes in the fishing community, lack of interest among young people. Some discussion about nicknames and superstitions, loss of the old-timers.

Sebastian Ayala is a forty-three year old foreman at the Norpel plant in New Bedford.  He has been working at the Norpel plant for almost fifteen years, working his way up to a foreman position. In this interview Sebastian describes coming to New Bedford from El Salvador and his work at Norpel, including various positions in the factory as well as safety concerns.

Shareen Davis is a fifty-year-old woman from Chatham, Massachusetts. She is a 13th generation Cape Codder with a rich history in the fishing industry. Davis owns a weir fishing business and provides shore support. She has also been a fisherman in the past and is a community activist. Her home port and hail port are both in Chatham, MA, specifically Stage Harbor. Davis comes from a fishing family, with her grandfather and uncles being fishermen and her mother working in the industry. She met her husband, Ernie, in a coffee shop where a group of fishermen would come in for breakfast.

Ted Williams is a seasoned professional with a rich history in the New Bedford fishing industry. Born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida, Williams moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts at the age of eighteen to pursue a career in agriculture. After working in the farming industry, he transitioned to marine construction, carpentry, and various other jobs before finding his calling in the fishing industry. Williams' extensive experience in the fishing industry includes roles as a fisherman, lumper, stevedore, fish cutter, tug boat captain, and merchant mariner.

Thomas Quintin Jr. is a native of New Bedford, Massachusetts, born in 1961 at St. Luke’s Hospital. He has spent his life in the fishing industry, working his way up from deckhand to captain. Quintin is a self-proclaimed “dinosaur” in the industry, struggling to remain viable against the growing corporate fishing industry. He has been a captain for 21 years, but has also worked as a deckhand and a mate on various boats. Quintin is currently employed by Quinn Fisheries, which owns five boats.

In this interview, Virginia Martins discusses the challenges of being in the fishing industry, including the changes to the industry, the role of women in the fishing industry, and the role of climate change and technology in the fishing industry. She shares her personal work history and her experiences at Bay Fuels, Inc.

This oral history was produced in 2017 as part of the Workers on the Waterfront Oral History Project conducted by New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center with funding from an Archie Green Fellowship provided by the Library of Congress.