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BY: So I have a question about, so were most of the fishermen in Steveston Japanese or white? What was sort of the ratio between...

MO: My dad never associated with hakujin.

BY: So that was my question. What were the relationships like between the Japanese fishermen and the white fishermen?

MO: Not too many going on.

BY: Did they not like each other?

MO: Well, competition was pretty stiff, but I don't think there was too many white fishermen in the Fraser River.

TI: So it was mostly dominated by the...

MO: Japanese fishermen.

TI: So how common was it for a Japanese to own his own gillnetter? Were there quite a few that also had their own boats?

MO: Yeah, mostly had their own boats.

TI: And do you have a sense of how your father compared with the other fishermen?

MO: My dad was a good fishermen; he was one of the top fishermen in the Fraser River.

TI: So what made him such a good fisherman? I mean, aren't all the boats kind of the same, or was his boat different?

MO: Well, I guess you got to learn all the stuff in the river. So I don't know. My dad was one of the better fishermen in Steveston.

BY: Do you know how he learned to fish?

MO: Well, I think that's the only thing that bothers me. My grandfather might have been a fisherman, too, but I don't know.

TI: I'm guessing, too, when you think about fishing on the Fraser River with a gillnetter, that's kind of a special thing. I mean, I would think it's kind a lot of local...

MO: Before the war, my dad never went out other than fishing in the Fraser. After the war, they went up north towards...

TI: Because that's different. Because I've done gillnetting, like, in Alaska, that's different than river gillnetting.

MO: Yeah. Fraser River fishing is just, they fished the tide, when the tide is right. They worked pretty hard.

TI: Right, and you have the tides, you have the river current, you have all those different things you have to account for.

MO: You know, watched the current and that, and when the tide gets lower, all the steamers, you know, all these freighters come in, you got to watch those guys.

TI: Yeah, so there's a lot going on. I mean, I remember being on a gillnetter and, yeah, you feel like sometimes you're out there by yourself, but then you have a big steamer come right towards you, and they don't move, you have to move. And you have to be careful of your nets and everything, where they are.

MO: Oh, yeah. You got to make sure you don't run by those.

TI: Well, was it really... everyone has kind of their special spots, or the best places to lay the nets. And so it is competitive to get there first, too, to lay those nets.

MO: They always get a, gather in the same spot, good fishing spot, and they'd take turn, you know.

TI: Oh, so there was kind of a, taking a turn in terms of, maybe the prime spots.

MO: Yeah.

TI: How did they decide that?

MO: Hmm?

TI: How did they decide that? How did they know how to take turns?

MO: Well, I guess the boat that came to the certain spot first gets their turn.

TI: So that's what I notice about gillnetters is, the first one out there gets the best spot, so that's why they had to...

MO: Yeah, well, depends on what time of day it is.

<End Segment 6> - Copyright © 2022 Densho. All Rights Reserved.