Interviewer: Preetam Prakash

Affiliation: University of Arizona

I originally contacted Mr. Schultz after speaking with PP425 who told me that he would be an important person to speak with in the area about the history of the shipbuilding and fabrication industry. When I contacted Mr. Schultz he readily agreed to meet with me at his house to talk about the industry as well as the impacts of the oil spill on the local community.

Mr. Schultz grew in Biloxi and had entered the shrimping industry in the 1950s and worked as a commercial shrimper for more than 40 years. He described the heavy economic fluctuations which had historically characterized the industry in the area. He also spoke about some of the difficulties that had marked the relationships between local fishermen and shrimpers and the Vietnamese who had immigrated to the area beginning in the 1970s. Mr. Schultz had stopped commercial shrimping in the early 2000s and had worked for Mississippi State University in its Coastal Research and Extension Center. He is currently serving on the Mississippi Gulf of Mexico Commission, which is intended to play a crucial role in devising short and long-term strategies to help Mississippi recover from the oil spill.