William M. Akutagawa, Jr. was born February 18, 1948 on Moloka'i. His late father, William M. Akutagawa, Sr., was the son of Japanese immigrants. His mother, Katharine Hagemann Akutagawa, is the daughter of a German immigrant father and Hawaiian mother.  William grew up in KamalO and visited his grandparents in 'Ualapu'e often, spending much of his youth fishing the waters off of 'Ualapu'e Fishpond. He attended Kilohana School and Moloka'i High School, graduating in 1966.

William Mankin begins by speaking about the origin of his “Physics of a Cup of Coffee” seminar and his relationship with Jack Herring of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, New York. After graduating from Southwestern (now called Rhodes College), Mankin received a scholarship to attend the Summer Institute in Space Physics offered by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) where he learned about radiative transfer.

William McKusic, commonly known as Bill, was born on September 21, 1971, and relocated from Rockland to Friendship ten years ago. With a background in plumbing and carpentry, Bill has been actively involved in lobstering for the past two decades, primarily serving as a sternman. Alongside his lobstering profession, he is a father of three children.

William Overholtz was born and raised in Lima, Ohio. He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in fresh waters fisheries and limnology from Ohio State and his Ph.D. from Oregon State. He began his career with the Fish and Wildlife Service at Rock Island, Illinois. In 1976, Overholtz began working at Woods Hole and completed many survey cruises on various foreign vessels His work focused on groundfish and herring. He spent time in the population dynamics group as well as working on acoustic surveys and assessment modeling. He retired from NMFS after 34 years of service.

William, born and raised in Ohio, embarked on an academic journey that laid the foundation for his remarkable career. He obtained his Bachelor's degree from Duke University in 1960, marking the beginning of his pursuit of knowledge. Not long after, he furthered his education by earning a Master's degree in statistics from the University of North Carolina, followed by a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.

Willis Blount, a distinguished fisherman and shipbuilder, was born in Putnam, Connecticut, in 1945. He inherited his maritime passion from a family deeply entrenched in shipbuilding and fishing traditions. Blount's early exposure to the maritime world led him to develop a connection to both shipbuilding and fishing. His journey encompassed innovative contributions to the industry and a lifelong dedication to the sea.

Willy Phillips is a seasoned professional in the commercial fishing industry, with a particular focus on crabbing. He has spent a significant portion of his life in fish houses and has been deeply involved in fisheries legislation. Phillips has been an advocate for the crab fishery and has worked towards the development of a crab management plan. He has also been a vocal critic of the commercial fishing industry, proposing a complete shutdown and rebuild of the industry in North Carolina.

Wilson Acosta has been fishing since he was a boy.  Now in his 60's, he is considering selling his boat and retiring.

Winfield Lash, commonly known as Winnie Lash, was born on July 5, 1918, and spent the majority of his life in Friendship, Maine. He and his wife Barbara have been married for 63 years and have seven children, 17 grandchildren, and 13 great grandchildren. After working at the Camden Shipbuilding Company and Bath Ironworks, he worked at the W. S. Carter Boat Yard, which was owned by his uncle, Scott Carter. When his uncle died in 1946, he and Charles Sylvester bought the yard. Two years later, Sylvester sold his share to Winnie’s brother Douglas, and the yard became known as Lash Brothers.

With a father and grandfather who ran a cannery at the steamboat wharf, John Cowart's telling brought to life the Adams Floating Theatre, the rich singing of the Black men in his family’s oyster house, and the dynamic interaction at the country store.

With her father in the Air Force, Kimberly Carroll grew up living in all parts of the country: Mississippi, Florida, Alaska, and finally Charleston. In 1992 she was working as a radiologist at Roper Hospital when she met Raul Morales, a crabber and native of Cuba, while hanging out on a shrimp boat in Mount Pleasant. They fell in love, and Kimberly started selling fresh catch for Raul’s seafood business, Raul’s Seafood, which was located at Shem Creek on the Geechee Dock. Kimberly sold to 150 restaurants across the Lowcountry.

Woody Bowers is a former fisherman and captain who fished for 17 years and then went on occasional fishing trips. Woody Bowers used to fish for codfish, haddock, flounders, and yellow tails, among other species, and the boat he worked on could carry up to two hundred thousand pounds of fish. The boat mostly fished on Georges Bank, where Bowers looked for the species of fish he wanted based on his past experience.

Wynn Gale is a lifelong resident of Darien, Georgia, and a fourth-generation fisherman. He began his career in commercial fishing at the age of twelve. Despite a brief attempt at a career in law enforcement, Gale returned to the fishing industry, following in the footsteps of his family who have only ever worked in fishing. Over the years, Gale has observed a significant decrease in the number of boats fishing in the area. He has also experienced the financial challenges of the industry, having had to sell his shrimp boat due to high dock rent and the lack of a crew.

Wynn Gale is a lifelong resident of Darien, Georgia, and a fourth-generation fisherman. He began his career in commercial fishing at the age of twelve. Despite a brief attempt at a career in law enforcement, Gale returned to the fishing industry, following in the footsteps of his family who have only ever worked in fishing. Over the years, Gale has observed a significant decrease in the number of boats fishing in the area. He has also experienced the financial challenges of the industry, having had to sell his shrimp boat due to high dock rent and the lack of a crew.

Yancy William Welch, born on December 9, 1965, in Lake Charles, Louisiana, is a lifelong resident of Oak Grove, a small town located approximately 40 miles away. Raised in a family deeply rooted in the rural traditions of Louisiana's wetlands, Welch's upbringing was characterized by a strong sense of community and family involvement in shared tasks, such as gardening and cattle rearing. His family's livelihood was primarily based on agriculture and hunting, with his father working as a school teacher to supplement their income.

Yen Cheung Au, Chinese, the sixth of sixteen children, was born in Waiahole, Oahu on March 7, 1894. His father was a rice farmer in Waiahole. Yen Cheung helped his father in the fields by scaring away the birds which threatened the rice crops. He also helped the family by catching fish and shrimp.

Young marrieds in 1946, a woman and her husband were caught in the 1946 tsunami, which destroyed their beachfront house in Spreckelsville. She details their swimming to safety along with neighbors and coping in the aftermath of the flooding. Also recalled is the 1960 tsunami as it affected Kailua, Oahu.

 Dr. Randolph “Randy” L. Ferguson was born in Wisconsin along the shores of Lake Michigan and
spent his formative years there.

 During his mid-teens the family moved to New York; there, he enrolled in Cornell University and graduated in 1967 with a Bachelor’s Degree concentrating in Environmental Sciences.

 He entered graduate school at Florida State University in Tallahassee and received his Ph.D. from FSU in 1971; his dissertation dealt with the effects of light and temperature on the growth and productivity of phytoplankton.

• Associate Professor at UCONN Avery Point in Maritime English
• Lead Foreman of the Mystic Seaport Museum’s Demonstration Squad
• Prominent Herman Melville Scholar

• Grew up in inland MA, but had a house is Warham
• After he graduated he took an internship with the Marine Biological Labs in Woods Hole
• Took and VW bus and got a job with the University of Washington Research Ship as part of the deck crew

• Allyn B. Powell: Born in Wilkes-Barre, PA, and raised in Jersey City, NJ, and vicinity.
• Graduated from Middlesex County (NJ) Vocational and Technical School in 1954 with certification in Machine Drawing.
• Employed by Bethlehem Steel Co.

• Doug was born and raised in Carteret County, North Carolina.  Growing up, Doug worked on menhaden boats with his Uncle Wiley and on charter boats in Morehead City.
• Doug attended East Carolina University in Greenville, NC.
• Doug was hired as a fisheries technician at the Beaufort Laboratory in 1965. 

• Joseph W. Smith: Born and raised in Philadelphia, PA..
• He received his Bachelor’s Degree in biology at Saint Joseph University in Philadelphia in 1975.
• He received his Master’s Degree in Marine Science from Willian & Mary in Williamsburg, VA, in 1980.

• Mr. Bill Hettler was born in Chicago and was raised in San Antonio, Texas.
• Bill attended the University of Texas and received his Bachelor’s Degree in 1960.
• After graduation he was commission as an officer in the U.S.

• Raised in Maryland.
• Received her Bachelor’s and Graduate degrees in the 1970s from the University of Maryland at College Park, the latter under Dr. Eugenie Clark.
• While at College Park she volunteered at the Smithsonian and worked for Dr.

• Born and raised in Raleigh, NC
• Graduated from North Carolina State University with Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Biology
• Drafted by the US Army
• Employed as Fisheries Biologist at the Beaufort Lab 1961-1989

• Born in Beaufort, NC; raised on Pivers Island (site of the Beaufort Laboratory)
• Herb’s father, Dr. Herbert Prythrech, was Director of the Beaufort Laboratory, 1933-1949
• Graduated from East Carolina University and also served in the US Army
• Worked for the NMFS, formerly the U.S. Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, as a port agent and fishery reporting specialist in TX, SC, GA, and Miami; retired from NMFS in 1994

• John grew up in Pennsylvania and received his Master’s degree in the early 1950s from Bucknell University
• He worked for about five years in the early 1950s as an oyster biologist for the State of Maryland near Annapolis
• He was hired as a fishery biologist with the Radiobiological Laboratory at the Beaufort Laboratory in 1955
• Retired from the Beaufort Laboratory in 1975
• John was 98 years old when he recorded this interview

• Received his Ph.D. from Iowa State University in 1965
• Did post-doctoral work at the University of Miami 1966-1967
• Employed at the Beaufort Laboratory in 1967, initially with the Menhaden Program
• Established the Reef Fish Program at the Beaufort Laboratory in the early 1970s, studying life histories of the snapper-grouper complex of fishes along the U.S.

• Eldon was born and raised in California. He served in the U.S. Army overseas.
• He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Management from San Jose State University in the mid-1960s.
• Eldon was initially employed by the U.S.