Page 51 - Winter Breeze 2

It All Started With Shrimp

San Felipe’s story about the history, thrill and passion of catching
these sea critters to make some very tasty dishes for everyone! by J.P
San Felipe was incorporated in 1925 as a result of the fishing camps that had started to
flourish in the area. The main camps started at Punto Uno, (near the oyster farms, but that is
another story). As the camps grew, a central area was established to handle the expansion,
so the town was established down the hill, what we now know as The Malecon. The com-
mercial fishing industry took off big time and San Felipe became one of the top wholesalers
in the United States. In the years between 1926 and 1942 San Felipe became the harbor
home for many large fishing trawlers, among the most celebrated ships of the era were José
Ascolani’s Trieste and Pacita.
In the 1970’s, fishing in the big
trawlers reached it’s peak. That’s
when Ruben Franco Diaz, Pres-
ident of the Co-operative Feder-
ation Riberenas, started to work
on the boats. As a 14-year-old
kid, he learned the ropes as
an apprentice on the trawlers.
In his 20’s, he went on to learn
engineering and worked on the
refrigeration systems on board
the larger ships This step-up had
a price, as it took him away from
home sometimes for 20 to 30 days. By the 1980’s the fishing industry in San Felipe started to
decline with problems, both with financial issues as the costs could not keep up with profits

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