Frank Tursi is a Brooklyn, New York native who grew up with a deep appreciation for the coastal environment. His early experiences fishing and exploring the local geography of Brooklyn sparked his interest in coastal issues and the environment. Tursi's family moved to North Carolina due to shifts in the garment industry. He pursued Geology studies at East Carolina University and was involved with The Fountainhead newspaper during his tenure there.

• 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.

Interview with Harvey Bradshaw, retired Colonel in the United States Marine Corps, photographer, and community activist

Harvey Bradshaw is a retired colonel in the United States Marine Corps and a lifelong Sneads Ferry resident with deep ancestral roots in the area dating back twelve generations to 1691. Born in Sneads Ferry, Bradshaw grew up in a family deeply involved in farming and fishing. His grandfather and his family farmed and fished in the area, engaging in activities such as raising tobacco, corn, and peanuts and maintaining orchards with peaches, apples, pears, and grapevines.

• 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

Matthew Barr interviewed Hubert Smith for the Wild Caught oral history project. Hubert Smith, a resident of Sneads Ferry, North Carolina, discusses the challenges facing local commercial fishermen due to increasing real estate development and zoning issues. He highlights how retiring baby boomers and other new residents have put pressure on the area's waterfront properties, driving up prices and pushing out long-standing fishing operations.

Interview with Isabelle Sidbury, a teacher and longtime member of the Sneads Ferry African-American community

On August 1, 2000, Matthew Barr interviewed Jackie Thompson for the Wild Caught oral history project in Sneads Ferry, North Carolina. Jackie Thompson is the wife and daughter of commercial fishermen, and her family has deep roots in the shrimping industry. She describes growing up in Sneads Ferry and living a life centered around the local fishing community, raising five children alongside her husband while navigating the challenges of a dangerous profession.

Jake Griffin, 27 years old at the time of the interview, is a North Carolina fisherman specializing in niche fisheries such as shark fishing and the haul seine fishery (a traditional method of fishing from the beach with a skiff and a truck). Located at an ecological boundary, he targets various populations of sharks as they migrate down from the North and up from the South throughout the year. Jake's biggest worry is that public misunderstanding about the shark fishery will lead to management measures that shut him out of the fisheries he has invested in.

Jennifer Potts was born in Utica, NY, but moved at an early age to Oxford, NC. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Wildlife and Fisheries at North Carolina State University in Raliegh, NC, in 1988. After graduation from NCSU, Jennifer moved to Carteret County, NC. She was hired by the Reef Fish Program at NOAA’s Beaufort Laboratory in early 1989. Her initial duties for her supervisor, Dr. Charles Manooch, involved aging wreckfish, a deep-water grouper, utilizing the fish’s ear stones, or otoliths, as aging tools.