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Photo: Leia Onofre
“‘I’m gonna cut my fingers off!’ I said. ‘Well, that’s how you become a cutter!’ … We got so used to it that, we could close our eyes and cut fish.”
ELIEZER LOPEZ
Eliezer “Eli” Lopez is a Puerto Rican-American veteran, retired fish cutter, and current part-time employee at Turks Seafood – a restaurant in Mattapoisett, MA. In this excerpt, he speaks about learning how to cut fish, the gender dynamics in the fish houses, and getting sober.
This interview was originally conducted in English.
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Background Information:
Eli migrated from Puerto Rico as a child. Puerto Rico was colonized by the Spanish for over 400 years, becoming a U.S. territory in 1898 following the SpanishAmerican War. Puerto Rican migration to New Bedford began in the 1940s, increasing after Hurricane Maria in 2017. As of 2021, Puerto Ricans were the largest Latino group living in New Bedford. Eli mentions drinking and smoking “bones” – slang for marijuana – before getting sober forty years ago. Although some fishermen struggle with addiction, often tied to opioids prescribed for injuries on the job, the media has perpetuated stereotypes that overemphasize the prevalence of drug use.
