time. fishing will be good all summer. reporter: voicing frustrations of the community in the bad times. today that the oil entered the gulf, my phone quit ringing. reporter: just a month after that interview, kruse was found on his boat dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. for 14 days he worked for bp, hauling boom, looking for oil. he felt his role in the cleanup as a bp vessel of opportunity was worthless. that s what he told you? yes. reporter: that he felt like he was being put out there just for show? that s what he told his wife. didn t tell me that. he told his wife. that s what she told me just a while ago. he told me it was madness. reporter: kruse s friends told me he felt overwhelmed by the enormity of the disaster and they re all feeling the stress. this has been a long-term situation. this started in 2004 with a direct hit from hurricane ivan. then the next year was katrina.