Friday, March 14, 2008 – Real Fishing

Fishing Industry Memorial - 5th Street at South Harbor Boulevard, San Pedro, California –

Historical Note –

In 1892 Southern California Fish Corp. was the first cannery in Los Angeles Harbor. In 1903 a technique of preparing and canning was developed to can sardines, mackerel, bluefin tuna, yellowfin tuna and albacore. In 1912 the first fresh fish market was introduced in San Pedro and along with other markets that followed, they eventually supplied fresh and iced fish throughout our nation.

Before long, flotillas of purse seine boats were sailing down from northern waters to fish in San Pedro. By 1920 there was a large fleet of fishing boats and methods of fishing such as purse seine, lampara, jig, live bait, gill net, mackerel scoopers and long line boats. Los Angeles Harbor became the largest fishing port in the nation. The fishing industry in San Pedro was originated primarily by European and Asian fishermen each bringing fishing knowledge from their native lands.

In 1935, following the depression, 6,000 people were directly employed in the fishing industry. Its payroll was the largest in San Pedro, approximately three-quarters of a million dollars per month. The industry was at its peak during World War II. During the fifties, sardines and mackerel gradually diminished causing the decline of the industry in San Pedro.

In 1992 the Fishermen's Fiesta Committee planned to erect a Fishermen's Memorial. In 1995, a new Volunteer Committee of fishermen's descendents and fishermen was formed to see the project to completion. This beautiful Memorial was then conceived with a Bronze Fisherman and a Memorial Wall to preserve the history of the Fishing Industry.

If you wish to use any of these photos for commercial purposes I assume you'll discuss that with me. And should you choose to download any of these images and use them invoking the "fair use" provisions of the Copyright Act of 1976, please provide credit, and, on the web, a link back this site.

Technical Note:

Photographs after March 3, 2008, were taken with a Nikon D200 – or a Nikon D70 when noted. All previous photographs were taken with the D70. The lenses used are (1) AF-S Nikkor 18-70 mm 1:35-4.5G ED, or (2) AF Nikkor 70-300 mm telephoto, or (3) AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 55-200 mm f/4-5.6G ED. Photography here is modified for web posting using Adobe Photoshop 7.0.  The earliest photography in the archives was done with a Sony Mavica digital still camera (MVC-FD-88) with built-in digital zoom.

All text and photos, unless otherwise noted, Copyright © 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 - Alan M. Pavlik