In his book “THE PORTUGUESE-AMERICANS”, published in 1976, author Mr. LEO PAP cites POINT LOMA’S (a bayside neighborhood in San Diego, CA) PORTUGUESE ethnic enclave as the WEALTHIEST (per capita) IN THE NATION! During these “boom times” when the book was written, fishing was lucrative beyond all expectation! — …and while male relatives fished off the coasts of Mexico and South America for two or three months at a time, women raised their children on the same Point Loma streets on which their parents and grandparents lived.
San Diego’s tuna fleet then numbered 200 vessels and accounted for 80% of the world’s catch. Nearly 50% the boats were owned by PORTUGUESE “family dynasties“ that had been living in Point Loma for several generations. Crew members, nearly 75% of whom were PORTUGUESE, and addressed each other in the idioms of their native villages while they laid the huge black purse seine nets on the Embarcadero docks. — During this “boom“, there were two weekly Portuguese-language radio broadcasts from San Diego-based stations.
*Editorial Note: Nearly NO ONE in San Diego would have guessed that the productive *END* of the SAN DIEGO TUNA FISHING FLEET was less than a decade away!? 🙁