On September 9, 2013, Joshua Wrigley interviewed Fred Viola in South Portland, Maine, for the Maine Coast Oral History Initiative. Viola, a lifelong resident of Portland, grew up in a fishing family but preferred shore-based work. He worked in construction for most of his career while intermittently engaging in fish unloading, or "lumping," at the Portland Fish Exchange. Viola describes his early work in the fishing industry, starting as a teenager in a whiting factory before transitioning to lumping, which provided higher earnings.