“BRITO ELECTED TO HEAD TUNABOAT ASSOCIATION – Mr. LOU BRITO (aka. Luciano Brito – ed.), veteran San Diego fisherman and owner of the famous clipper ‘ROYAL PACIFIC’, has been elected President of the AMERICAN TUNABOAT ASSOCIATION (i.e. A.T.A. – ed.) for 1965. He succeeds Mr. Louis Vattuone.
Other officers elected at the annual meeting were EDWARD P. SILVA, Executive Vice-President, then Wade Ambrose, Treasurer, and Pete Louganis, Secretary (*Side Note: Also the adoptive father of later world-famous Olympic diver Greg Louganis – ed.). Re-elected as Manager was Mr. August Felando. Directors are the 65 managing owners of the vessels affiliated with the association.
Only three tunaboats were lost in 1964. As a contrast, as many as 15 boats were sunk or destroyed by fire in previous years. The boats lost in 1964 were the ‘WESTERN SKY’, the ‘MARY S.’, and the ‘BENITA’. The ‘INTREPID’ also was sunk, but she did not belong to the association.
The year was unmarked by clashes with foreign nations over territorial fishing rights, but a number of fishermen *left* San Diego’s tuna fleet to fish for crab in Alaskan waters, or salmon off the Columbia River, or with vessels operating in South American and Puerto Rican waters. Except for a slowdown in buying of catches by the canneries associations, officials said that 1964 would have been a good year for the tuna fleet. At one period there were more than 20 tunaboats in port loaded with several thousand tons of yellowfin and skipjack, waiting for the canneries to buy the catches.
Of the 75 tunaboats in port over Christmas, a large number have left port to begin the 1965 fishing season in Latin American and Mexican waters. Within a week all will be at sea except those undergoing repairs at the shipyards…”
(*Source: San Diego UNION & Daily Bee newspaper – Thursday, December 31, 1964 – Pg. 5)