This is a loving portrait of a single mother who worked extremely hard to provide for her children.  In this interview, Debra Soares describes her mother’s resilient, hardworking nature in the face of long, cold hours working as a fish processor.  She extolls the importance of extended kinship networks, the power of being raised by a village, and the sacrifices that the women in her mother’s generation and the first-generation immigrants from Cape Verde made working in the fish houses.

This is one of a set of 15 oral histories with Portuguese immigrant fishermen who worked out of the port of New Bedford. The project was sponsored by a NOAA Preserve America grant. In this interview, Mr. Fidalgo describes his life prior to coming to the U.S., including his experience as an independent fisherman/boat owner and the social, economic and cultural characteristics of his village. He relates what made him come to the U.S. and his experience in New Bedfford's fishing industry.

On September 23, 2007, Janice Gadaire Fleuriel interviewed Diane Flynn as part of the Working Waterfront Festival Community Documentation Project. Diane shares details from her 27 years of working in the fishing industry as an inshore fisher of soft shell clams. Her partner, Skip, came from generations of fishermen, and taught her the trade, and she describes their work harvesting clams, along with scalloping, quahoging and oystering.

On September 25, 2011 Madeleine Hall-Arber interviewed Dick Grachek as part of the Working Waterfront Festival Community Documentation Project. Dick shares memories from his childhood which nurtured his attachment to the water. Despite not coming from a professional fishing family, his love for the ocean was instilled in him by his grandfather, who owned a fish store in Brooklyn, and father, who took him fishing frequently. Growing up on the south shore of Long Island, Dick was exposed to the cycles of fish and the intricacies of marine life from a young age.

Mr. Ficek has been a fisherman for ten years and talks about life at sea.

Donald Clattenburg is an 81-year-old retired boat owner from Fairhaven, Nova Scotia. Born in Port Midway, Nova Scotia, he moved to New Bedford in 1941 with his three brothers. His father owned four fishing boats in New Bedford, and DC began his career in the fishing industry at the age of fifteen, working in Homers Filet House. He was drafted into the Navy at eighteen during WWII and participated in the invasion of the beach at Okinawa. After the war, he returned to fishing, working with his uncle on the Two Brothers and later on his father's boat.

Donald F. Clattenburg, born on September 5, 1925, in Port Midway, Nova Scotia, is a retired commercial fisherman with a rich history in the industry. His father, also a fisherman, moved to the United States before Donald was born, visiting his family in Nova Scotia annually . Donald moved to the United States in August 1941, just before World War II, and settled in New Bedford. He began his career in commercial fishing shortly after returning from the war, following in his father's footsteps.

On September 29, 2012 Markham Starr interviewed Donald Spooner as part of the Working Waterfront Festival Community Documentation Project. Donald describes his upbringing and childhood in Fairhaven, MA. As a Boy Scout, he used to visit Guilmette's machine shop on Main Street in Fairhaven, learning to use different tools and eventually started working, making wooden doors for draggers. After high school, he joined the Navy in 1950 and served for four years.

On September 23, 2006, Janice Gadaire Fleuriel interviewed Donna Cunio as part of the Working Waterfront Festival Community Documentation Project. Donna discusses her life with her husband, a merchant marine captain, including details of his work transporting cargo for Texaco and the struggles involved in maintaining the homefront, and managing a difficult pregnancy. While he was at sea, Donna worked full-time and helped care for her family.

On September 22, 2007, Janice Gadaire Fleuriel interviewed Donna Goodwin as part of the Working Waterfront Festival Community Documentation Project.  Donna comes from a long line of fishermen: her father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were all in the industry. At the age of seven, her father taught her how to splice three-strand ropes, which she was later able to make her profession working for New England Ropes and starting her own business, the Splice Girls.