Month: October 2010

The San Diego tuna fleet had so many things to it such as Canaries and shipyards. But when I think about the shipyards you had to think about Campbell’s. The shipyard and the Seiners Classic design with the stern engine. The shipyard put out so many boats, and  changed its design a few times from the early ones like the Elizabeth CJ, to the most recognizable Uncle Louie style, and finally to the more modern Margaret Z. One thing for sure they were recognizable and they were a huge part of San Diego. I never did get to a launching, but I added some photos; looks like it would have been a blast.

When the tuna boat fleet left San Diego, not only did the boats leave but so did thousands of jobs. Like Campbell’s shipyard, the Tuna canneries, to the hundreds of little shops that worked on tuna boat related items. Such as fuel docks, supply stores, food, and even the little deli that use to supply the lunches for the crews. I personally remember driving down Shelter Island and taking my dads navigation sextant to the shop; Baker marine to get it serviced (yeah they didn’t always have computers, navigators really used to work) and right across the street was Mauricio and sons where the boats would bring there skiffs to get fixed. There were businesses like that all over San Diego. But back to the canaries, you had Van Camps and Bumble Bee , Westgate, starkest where each place employed around 3,000 people.

I could only guess at how many jobs Campbell’s and San Diego Marine shipyards employed due to the tuna boats. It’s safe to say San Diego lost thousands of jobs when the Tuna industry left San Diego. There were estimations of around 30,000 to 40,000 jobs. You didn’t need to be Portuguese or Italian to work in the industry, simply put if you were in San Diego in the 70’s or early 80’s somebody you knew worked in the industry. It is just a shame it’s gone. Below are photos of what our waterfront use to look like…



Simply put you can’t talk about the San Diego Tuna Fleet without the name of Ed Gann. He was a monster, his boats were always beautiful, and some of the most modern. He owned somewhere around 52 boats in his lifetime. Although I did not personally know him but I am lucky to say I knew his niece and if he was anything like her he must have been a great guy. We lost Mr. Gann this year as we have lost a number of icons in the fleet. He will always be known as one of the greatest in the tuna fleet worldwide…