David Tarr, of James G. Tarr & Bro. in Gloucester, MA was interviewed by William Wakeham and Hugh M. Smith. Interview contains descriptions of the mackerel fishery.

On September 26, 2004, Millie Rahn interviewed Deb and Ron Schrader as part of the Working Waterfront Festival Community Documentation Project. Ron was raised in a fishing family, and knew he wanted to be a fisherman from an early age, and made his way along the coast from North Carolina to New Bedford, MA, where he achieved his goal of becoming a captain. Deb grew up in New Bedford, but it wasn’t until she met Ron that she became involved in the local fishing industry.

Debra Kelsey of New Bedford, Massachusetts. Growing up, she attended Catholic school and had no interaction with the fishing industry. She initially worked as a commercial printer until she was laid off. She then enrolled as a full-time student at Salter School for 10 months, then began to work as a medical assistant, but didn’t like it. Shortly afterwards she was offered position as a navigator at Fishing Partnership Support Services where she works today.

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.

Dr. Donald Anderson is a renowned authority on Alexandrium and a leading figure in the study of red tide, a phenomenon that has gained significant attention in relation to climate change. Born in Milwaukee, Dr. Anderson's early life was marked by frequent moves across the country, from Salt Lake City to various locations on the East Coast and California. His father, Earl Anderson, was a marine engineer and a lieutenant in the Marines during World War II, while his mother, Joan Anderson, worked in various jobs for the government. Dr.

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.