Mr. Muoi Pham is a Vietnamese-American living in New Orleans who is a tuna boat deckhand. Pham was born, the youngest of ten children, on October 8, 1957, in Phan Thiet, Vietnam. His parents originated from North Vietnam; his father fled from the Viet Minh to Phan Thiet where he met Mr. Pham’s mother. Mr. Pham quit school to begin fishing with his father, as deckhands, at age eighteen in Phan Thiet, a fishing village. Mr. Pham was imprisoned in reeducation camp in 1977 but escaped after two weeks. He went to Vung Tau and sold fish, sneaking back to Phan Thiet to visit his mother every four to six months. In 1978 he was arrested again but escaped. In 1981 Mr. Pham escaped Vietnam on a friend’s boat. They were taken to Malaysia by a Singaporean ship. Mr. Pham eventually landed in New Orleans where some of his family had previously settled and his older brother was a fisherman. Mr. Pham worked at Schwegmann’s Grocery for three to four years then began fishing in 1985. At the time of the interview, Mr. Pham had worked as a deckhand for twenty-five years, primarily fishing for tuna.

Scope and Content Note:
He discusses early life in Vietnam; fishing family with roots in Phan Thiet; Vietnam War; escape from Vietnam; resettling in New Orleans (after time in Malaysian camp); life under communism; escape from re-education camp; twenty-five years as a deckhand; Hurricane Katrina; Deepwater Horizon oil disaster and impact on his life; frustration with Gulf Coast Claims Facility, Ken Feinberg, and oil disaster claims process; helpful role of MQVN CDC; fear of oil dispersant impact on fisheries; reasons for not fishing; fishing lifestyle.