Interviewer: Preetam Prakash

Affiliation: University of Arizona

Mr. Nolan had been referred to me by a few others whom I had interviewed in the area around Bayou La Batre as someone who had experience in both the seafood and offshore oil industries. I contacted Mr. Nolan and explained that the connection between shrimping and fishing and the offshore oil industry was something that I was hoping to gain more insight into. Mr. Nolan agreed to meet with me for an oral history interview and we ended up meeting at the Community Center in Bayou La Batre.

Mr. Nolan had been born in Mobile, AL in 1951. His father was in the Air Force and the family had moved around when Mr. Nolan was growing up. The family had moved back to the area when Mr. Nolan was in high school. Mr. Nolan went to school for instrumentation after graduating from high school and had begun shrimping when he was finished with this training. A number of his family members had worked in the shrimping and fishing industry. Mr. Nolan had gotten his start working as a deckhand for one of his uncles. He had eventually come to own and operate his own shrimp boat before deciding to go to work in the offshore oil industry because of the stability of this work compared to shrimping and fishing. Mr. Nolan remained involved with both the seafood and offshore oil industries over the years, and had also operated his own trucking business since the late 1980s. Mr. Nolan discussed how the 2010 Gulf oil spill had drastically impacted his trucking business, as well as impacted his plans and options for the future. He had been looking for work in the offshore oil industry since the previous summer but had had little luck locating anything. He expressed having enjoyed working in both the offshore oil and shrimping industries, although he emphasized that the latter was characterized by a high degree of instability.