Interviewer: Preetam Prakash

Affiliation: University of Arizona

Mike Sanzin, a man I had interviewed in Gulfport, had originally recommended that I try to get a hold of Mr. Corbin for an oral history interview. I called Mr. Corbin and we arranged to meet, but the interview had to be put for various reasons over the next few weeks. We eventually met at Mr. Corbin’s house in Long Beach for the interview. Mr. Corbin’s numerous dogs circled around us for much of the interview. Mr. Corbin was born in 1938 in Steinhatchee, FL. His father was a commercial fisherman and Mr. Corbin started fishing himself at an early age. He eventually came to work for a commercial fisherman in the Florida Keys who also sold dolphins. Mr. Corbin started to work training dolphins and did this for a number of years before beginning to work as a shrimper around Long Beach. The high price of fuel, combined with increasing numbers of imported shrimp forced Mr. Corbin to leave shrimping in the early 2000s and start working in the offshore oil industry as a crew boat captain. Mr. Corbin had been forced to stop working in the industry recently due to health issues. He expressed his desire to go back out offshore but said that his health and age would make it difficult to do so.