Pine Island Oral History Project Captures and Shares Local Stories

The Pine Island Oral History Project aims to capture and share the stories of longtime residents on Pine Island, Florida on the topic of the local fishing industry through recorded interviews. This project was spearheaded by Jim Friedlander and Steve Russell, both of whom had retired to the island and had become aware of the local fishing families affected by the state’s ban on gill net fishing in 1995.

The interviews were conducted in collaboration with the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program at the University of Florida (UF). They can be accessed via both the UF Digital Collections and a dedicated YouTube channel.