William Thiroux

Location of Interview
Collection Name

Deepwater Horizon Oil Disaster Oral History

Description

NOAA's Deepwater Horizon Oil Disaster Oral History documents the experience of people living in Gulf  of Mexico  oil-spill-affected fishing communities. The oral history data complements other social and economic data about the spill collected by NOAA and other governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations.

Date of Interview
01-24-2012
Transcribers

Stephanie Scull-DeArmey
Linda VanZandt

Audio
Transcript
Supplemental Material
Biographical Sketch

Mr. William “Billy” Thiroux is a commercial fisherman on the Gulf Coast.  Thiroux was born on July 4, 1937, in Biloxi, Mississippi, to Mr. Louis Thiroux and Mrs. Katherine Pauli Thiroux. His father was a commercial fisherman. His mother worked in the seafood plants as a shrimp picker and a crab picker. His mother’s family were commercial fishermen. Mr. Thiroux finished the eleventh grade, and thereupon joined the US Navy. After his military service, he became a commercial fishermen, a career in which he was still working part-time at the time of this interview. On June 21, 1956, he married Jane Ferrill in Biloxi, Mississippi. They have one son, Billy Thiroux.

Scope and Content Note:
He talks about commercial fishing, crabbing, oystering, learning to fish, multigenerational fishing family, factory limits on catches, Mississippi Gulf Coast seafood factories, fishermen?s strike, factory boats, costs of fishing, prices for catches, species in Gulf of Mexico, regulations, sponge/egg crabs, health of fisheries, boats, fishing/crabbing/oystering equipment, baits used, conchs, Hurricane Katrina, BP Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, Vessels of Opportunity, lost-income claims, closing of Gulf waters, spillway openings, freshwater diversion into Mississippi Sound, soft-shell crabs.


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