Work With Me: Following Fish from the Sea to the Table

Nov. 9, 2010 — -- Charleston, S.C., is a beautiful port city, a colorful landmark in American history that claims more than two centuries of life, commerce and culture. The city is known for its stunning architecture and pretty cobblestone streets.

Charleston, however, has also seen its share of strife and struggle, enduring the very first shots of the Civil War, the Great Depression and Hurricane Hugo in 1989. Today, Charleston and its residents struggle along with the rest of the U.S., trying to get through the economic recession.

But just north of town, across the bridge, things are looking up. Hidden away in a dormant industrial area, something exciting is happening … and someone is hard at work.

Paul Godbout is the sales manager of the wholesale fish company Stella Maris Seafood, and he wrote a submission essay for "Good Morning America's" "Work With Me" series about why we should come see him and his fellow fish wholesalers at work.

"We are just a group of local guys trying to make ends meet in a tough economy, and we seem to be succeeding!" Godbout, 44, wrote. (CLICK HERE to read his full submission essay)

Stella Maris is Latin for "star of the sea," and according to his boss, those words could also be used to describe Godbout.

"Paul is a great catch, not to play on words," Tony Blanchard, the president and founder of Stella Maris said. "And I knew right away -- that's the guy we needed. And he's so excitable, so passionate, loves his job. He knows fish inside and out."

Godbout, a married father of three, says he doesn't consider his job to be work at all.

"I jump out of bed and come to work," he said. "This is a blast."

Amazingly, Stella Maris opened two years ago as the recession was taking its deepest dive on the frontline of the fish business. The company has only eight employees working in a small but organized space. They bought every piece of equipment secondhand, run a tight ship and brought Godbout, a former Marine, police officer and lifetime fishing fanatic, onboard.

His mother remembers his love of fish started with storybooks when he was a toddler.

"He'd always go for the fish first," Kathleen Godbout said. "He just really, really took to fishing."