Interviewer: Preetam Prakash

Affiliation: University of Arizona

Diana and Rodney Thompson had been recommended to me as two people in the area who had experience in both the seafood industry and the offshore oil business. I contacted Mrs. Thompson over the phone and after a few calls we set up a good time for the interview. Our interview took place in the living room of Mr. and Mrs. Thompson’s home in Coden, AL.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Thompson were born and raised in the area around Bayou La Batre, AL. Both grew up in families which were involved in the seafood industry and gained experience working in this industry at an early age. They mentioned how various factors had contributed to the decline of this industry over the years and as well as to them shifting to working in offshore oil industry. These factors included the influx of imported shrimp, the entrance of non-locals into the commercial seafood industry, and pressure from environmental groups and recreational fishermen which resulted in increased regulations. Rodney had begun working on supply boats in the 1970s to supplement his income and to provide his family with the health benefits and stable paychecks which offshore oil work offered. Rodney described working in the offshore oil industry throughout the 1980s and said that he had never been affected by the general downturn which affected the industry as a whole during this time. Diana had begun working with Rodney co-captaining supply boats in the 2000s. They both agreed that there had been more husband-wife teams working in the industry some years ago, but that they were among the very few at this point. Following the 2010 oil spill, Rodney and Diana had worked on the VOO program, but they reported that offshore oil work had slowed down drastically in the aftermath of the spill. They were both currently employed by the same company for which they had been working for several years but expressed doubts about how long the company could continue to pay them and other employees without new work coming in.