John McDonald
The Fishing Industry in Newport, RI 1930-1987
The Fishing Industry of Newport, Rhode Island: 1930-1987 oral history project was implemented under the auspices of the Newport Historical Society and the University of Rhode Island Sea Grant Program. The interviews document the fishing industry from the point of view of its complex traditions and changes. These interviews provide a body of unedited primary source material focusing on priority issues of local concern and those beyond the geographic area under study. Interviews were conducted by Jennifer Murray of the Newport Historical Society and transcribed at the Center for Oral History, University of Connecticut. Copies of tapes and transcripts are available for research at the Newport Historical Society. As stated in the release form, which accompanies each transcript, the memoirs are to be used for scholarly and educational purposes only.
Interviews conducted by Jennifer Murray of the Newport Historical Society Interviews were conducted between 1987 and 1988. Copies of tapes, releases, and transcripts are available for research at the Newport Historical Society http://www.newporthistorical.org/. Copies of transcripts are also accessible on the National Sea Grant Library website http://nsgd.gso.uri.edu/.
John McDonald and his brother, James, have worked together as fishermen on their day dragger, a Natator, since 1948. Prior to that time, Mr. McDonald spent his childhood on the water catching eels and scalloping. During the 1940's he had extensive experience swordfish harpooning off Martha's Vineyard, Point Judith, and Block Island. Swordfish were abundant in those waters then. Now they are seldom spotted. Mr. McDonald has extensive knowledge of the fishing industry through years of first-hand experience and perceives his occupation as "A lot of hard work, but it's something, once you get it in your blood, you can't seem to get out of it. I've been doing it all these year." Mr. McDonald describes the seasonal nature of the day dragger fishery and expresses dismay at overfishing and depletion of local cod, haddock, and yellowtail flounder stocks, once the mainstay of day draggers. His concerns for the future of the fishing industry are illustrated by comparisons of catch sizes in 1948 with 1987.
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