{"id":245223,"date":"2012-07-20T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-07-20T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/a-fish-tale\/"},"modified":"2012-07-20T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-07-20T07:00:00","slug":"a-fish-tale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/a-fish-tale\/","title":{"rendered":"A fish tale"},"content":{"rendered":"

San Diego History Center exhibit delves into City\u2019s history as tuna-industry hub<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"A
An employee packs tuna at Sun Harbor Packing Company in 1948. (Courtesy SDHC photograph collection)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Por Dave Fidlin | Reportero SDUN<\/strong><\/p>\n

For nearly a century, San Diego held a special distinction that was a magnet to immigrants looking to ride the United States wave of prosperity.<\/p>\n

That distinction \u2013 the city\u2019s rich history in the tuna fishing industry \u2013 is the subject of the San Diego History Center\u2019s current exhibit at Balboa Park. The industry\u2019s prevalence brought families of Italian, Portuguese, Japanese and Latino descent to the city.<\/p>\n

Before flaming out in the 1970s, tuna fishing was a way of life for many residents. The occupation reached its pinnacle in the 1940s, when an estimated 95 percent of United States tuna was canned right in the city.<\/p>\n

Lifelong San Diegan Julius Zolezzi was a tuna fisher for many years, starting his journey as a child and working alongside his father in the 1930s. Four generations, his family made a living off the trade in the city\u2019s harbor.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard work, but it brought in good money,\u201d Zolezzi said, who continued his work into the 1980s. \u201cEverybody worked hard. It was just an innate thing. You did what you had to do to get the job done. By the end of the day, you would collapse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many workers \u2013 Zolezzi included \u2013 made their work in the fishing industry a family affair. Children would work alongside their fathers, and wives would traditionally assist with such tasks as sewing nets.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs it turned out, the sons usually followed in the footsteps of their fathers,\u201d Zolezzi said. \u201cThat\u2019s what happened to me. You grow up pretty fast when you\u2019re around older men all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zolezzi got his feet wet in the fishing industry in between years at school. Once he graduated, he went full-time; at age 22, was the captain of one the 200-plus vessels traversing the shores of the Pacific Ocean in San Diego. He put in 27 years as captain.<\/p>\n

Matt Schiff, a curator at the San Diego History Center, said the exhibit \u2013 running through Dec. 31 \u2013 touches on the industry\u2019s storied history, which is rooted in the 1870s as Japanese natives caught tuna off the city\u2019s coast and sold their findings at markets in town.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted this to be a real hands-on, interactive exhibit,\u201d Schiff said. \u201cI think there are engaging activities for children and adults. For example, people can get a feel, in one display, of what it was like to can tuna.\u201d<\/p>\n

The exhibit also displays the various techniques used to catch tuna, from bamboo poles to sophisticated nets that were made out of a durable nylon material. Displays also give spectators a feel for the true sophistication and grand scale of the boats, some weighing as much as 400 tons.<\/p>\n

Before such corporations as Chicken of the Sea and StarKist came to town, tuna fishing was a purely entrepreneurial activity. Schiff said it was almost \u201cwild west and cowboy-ish.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tuna fishing, of course, has not been without controversy; a fact included in the exhibit. In the 1960s, environmentalists began to decry existing practices as word got out about dolphins, turtles and other marine life getting caught in nets. Environmental concerns led to federal legislation that closely restricted tuna fishing techniques in the early 1970s.<\/p>\n

Local workers, including Zolezzi, continued to live in the city but caught fish in the South Pacific region, where warmer water temperatures meant fewer dolphins.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt meant extended periods of time away from family,\u201d Zolezzi said, who sold his boat in 2005. \u201cThat was hard on everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Corporate canneries followed the migration, draining money and jobs from the local economy. When the last cannery, Van Camp Seafood Co., departed San Diego in 1984, Schiff said it resulted in the loss of about 12,000 jobs.<\/p>\n

Regardless of the outcome, tuna fishing has left its imprint in the city, as evidenced by such neighborhoods as Little Italy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a proud, close-knit family tradition,\u201d Schiff said, \u201cand it\u2019s something I hope people come to appreciate after seeing the exhibit.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

AT A GLANCE<\/p>\n

WHAT: San Diego History Center Exhibit, \u201cTuna! Celebrating San Diego\u2019s Famous Fishing Industry\u201d<\/p>\n

WHEN: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays<\/p>\n

WHERE: Balboa Park, 1649 El Prado, Suite 3<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

San Diego History Center exhibit delves into City\u2019s history as tuna-industry hub By Dave Fidlin | SDUN Reporter For nearly a century, San Diego held a special distinction that was a magnet to immigrants looking to ride the United States wave of prosperity. That distinction \u2013 the city\u2019s rich history in the tuna fishing industry […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":245224,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"A fish tale","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-245223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245223\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}