Mary is a net maker and former fisherman.

Project Leaders: Lisa L. Colburn and Kate E. Yentes
Date Collection Completed: On going
Location: www.voices.nmfs.noaa.gov
Geographic Location: Locations across New England

Maryellen Brown, often referred to as Mary, is a resident of West Kingston, Rhode Island, living at 35 Erica Court. She is forty-nine years old and moved to Rhode Island from Connecticut when she was fourteen. Maryellen is married to a fisherman and has been involved in the fishing community since she was fifteen. She has been married for twenty-five years and has lived in her current residence for eleven years. Maryellen is also a mother to three children.

Niles Pearsall, 44, is a commercial fisherman out of Point Judith, Rhode Island. He began fishing after high school and now fishes for groundfish or squid up to 100 miles south of New England. He is a member of Sector 5. He believes that sectors are a good idea, but that everyone needs more quota. Sector management has led to rifts in the fishing community, largely as a result of the disparity in quota allocation. Mr. Pearsall believes that his quality of life is the same, due in part to his wife's income which has made up for his loss in income.

Patricia Mattera, 60, is married to retired fisherman Fred Mattera. Fred fished out of Point Judith, Rhode Island; he began fishing after taking a summer job during college and continued fishing until retiring in December 2011. He largely fished offshore, focusing on squid fisheries for the last 10 years of his career. Mrs. Mattera feels that regulations had been a source of stress in the fishing community for many years prior to the beginning sector management.

Paul Bennett is the husband of Hedy Bennett, who was also interviewed as part of this oral history of the fishing industry in Newport, R.I. Mr. Bennett has worked in the offshore lobster industry in Newport since the early 1970's and owns his own boat, Hedy-Brenna. He provides a detailed account of his work in the offshore lobster industry, comparing the industry of the 1970's with that of the 1980's. Mr.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Philip Ruhle began his work in the fishing industry during the 1940's. At that time, he was primarily involved in seasonal inshore fisheries in the waters off New York City and Long Island. His manuscript is a rich source of information on the abundance of inshore species in that area which made the way of life of inshore fishermen possible at that time. During the 1950's, Mr. Ruhle gillnetted mackeral from Long Island to Virginia. He went on to work in several other fisheries, including dragging and Scottish seining. Mr.

Phil Ruhle, 37, is a commercial fisherman out of Point Judith, Rhode Island. His grandfather began fishing in the 1950s; his father and uncles also fished and his children now fish with him on occasion. He fishes for a broad variety of fish using a dragger, catching predominantly groundfish inshore in recent years. He is a member of the Sustainable Harvest Sector and is on the Board of Directors; his father, along with other fishermen, began developing the Sustainable Harvest Sector even prior to 2010 when sectors were put in place throughout New England. Mr.

Raymond Palombo was one of the first lobstermen to realize lobster pots could be utilized successfully offshore on the continental shelf lobster grounds. Because of Newport's close proximity to those grounds, its offshore lobster industry grew quickly during the 1970's. Mr. Palombo was part of that lucrative growing industry. Raymond Palombo was involved in the fishing industry during all of his working life. He had extensive experience working in inshore and offshore fisheries outside of Boston.

Richard Allen is Vice President of Atlantic Offshore Fisherman's Association which acts on behalf of offshore fishermen and lobstermen in fisheries management deliberations. Major issues of concern to A.O.F.A are conservation, establishment of a countervailing duty on Canadian codfish, offshore oil exploration, and gear conflicts. Mr. Allen's manuscript contains important information pertaining to the fishing industry on a local, national, and international level.

Richard "Rob" Walz, 50, a commercial fisherman out of Tiverton, RI, began fishing as a boy. Mr. Walz fishes offshore, targeting different species seasonally. He has been a member of the common pool since sector management began, because his sector allocation was too small. Mr. Walz finds that sector management often causes fishermen to target one species, whereas fishermen used to diversify and catch numerous different species in an effort to conserve less abundant fish.