San Diego's Albacore Fishing History Started This Story
San Diego albacore fishing history explains why a canned tuna company still matters to a city known these days more for biotech and breweries. American Tuna, a canned seafood company founded in San Diego in 2004 by six Pole & Line fishing families, cans wild albacore and wild salmon caught off the US West Coast using the same one-fish-at-a-time method that built the city's original fleet. The company is MSC certified, and every can traces back to the boat that caught it.
San Diego Once Ran the World's Largest Tuna Fleet
Long before container ships and Navy destroyers defined San Diego Bay, the waterfront belonged to tuna boats. Portuguese and Italian fishing families settled around Point Loma and Logan Heights starting in the early 1900s, and canneries went up along the bay to process the catch. For most of the twentieth century, the San Diego tuna fleet anchored the local waterfront and employed thousands of fishermen and cannery workers.
As recently as 1980, San Diego was home to the world's largest and most successful tuna fishing fleet, with 101 tuna boats based in the city, according to the San Diego History Center's Journal of San Diego History. That peak is a central chapter in San Diego albacore fishing history — the city wasn't a minor player, it was the industry's center of gravity.
Pole & Line Fishing: The Method Behind the Fleet's Reputation
Not every boat in that historic fleet fished the same way. Some ran purse seine nets stretching a mile long, scooping up entire schools of tuna and, controversially, the dolphins that often swam above them. Others fished pole and line or troll gear, hooking albacore one at a time on barbless hooks with no nets at all.
That distinction shaped the future of Pacific tuna fishing history. In 2007, the American Albacore Fishing Association, a San Diego-based fishermen's group, became the first tuna fishery in the world to earn Marine Stewardship Council certification, largely on that one-fish-at-a-time approach. American Tuna sources from this same MSC-certified North Pacific Pole & Line fishery — read more about what pole-caught tuna actually means. West Coast trollers still fish this way each June through October, using gear NOAA Fisheries lists as the fishery's primary commercial method.
Why San Diego's Tuna Boats and Canneries Left
The decline is the part of San Diego albacore fishing history people know least, and no single law caused it, even though the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act often gets the blame. Foreign canned tuna got cheaper through the 1970s and 80s, and canneries relocated to Puerto Rico and American Samoa, where wages ran a fraction of California rates.
The real turning point came in 1990, when Star-Kist, Bumble Bee, and Chicken of the Sea agreed to buy only "dolphin-safe" tuna — no purse-seine tuna caught in the presence of dolphins, the method much of San Diego's remaining fleet still used. Within two years, the San Diego History Center reports the local fleet dropped from thirty large purse seiners to eight. The city's last tuna cannery closed in 2001.
One detail gets left out of most versions of this story: boats fishing pole and line never had a dolphin problem, because the method never involved nets. That's part of why this American albacore fishing heritage survived in San Diego, even after the rest of the industry moved on.
Six Families Started American Tuna in 2004 to Keep the Tradition Going
By the early 2000s, most of San Diego's tuna business had gone overseas or shifted north to Pacific Northwest ports. Six Pole & Line fishing families, many with roots going back generations in the local fleet, built something new instead of watching the old model disappear. In 2004 they founded American Tuna in San Diego, betting shoppers would pay attention to how their seafood got caught and who caught it.
That bet connects to what you're deciding in the canned-fish aisle. Buying a can that traces to a US pole-and-line boat is a direct way to put money behind American fishing jobs instead of an offshore supply chain — see our post on how buying American tuna supports US tuna fishing communities. If that matters to you, Shop American Tuna and compare a can with a traceable vessel to one that just says "product of" three or four countries.
Every Can Still Traces to a Working Boat
The traceability piece isn't marketing polish — it's a real can-code system. Every can carries a code linking back to the vessel that caught the fish, searchable on the trace your tuna lookup page. Some of the boats in that fleet include:
- Karen Jan
- Rose Marie
- Alliance
- Nightwind
- Pacific Pride
- Jody H
- Royal Dawn
- Sea Wind
- Nicole Marie
- Tombo
Compare that to brands sourcing from a mix of foreign fleets with no boat-level records. It's proof your fish came from a real, named vessel — a point we go deeper on in why we tell you where your canned tuna was caught.
San Diego Roots, West Coast Reach
American Tuna is headquartered at 995 Bay Blvd in Chula Vista, still inside the San Diego metro area, close to the water where this story started. The boats fish the Pacific off the US West Coast, and the catch is canned in Bellingham, Washington; Charleston, Oregon; and Alaska — a spread that mirrors how the country's remaining pole-and-line fleet now works out of Pacific Northwest ports. That's the throughline of San Diego albacore fishing history: roots in one bay, boats now working the whole coast.
The company has picked up outside recognition, including a Bon Appétit "Best Specialty Tuna" nod, a win in America's Test Kitchen tastings, and a spot on MSN's list of the healthiest canned tuna brands. None of that changes the setup: six founding families, a certified fishery, and a can code that points back to a boat and a crew, not a factory.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where was American Tuna founded, and where is it based now?
American Tuna was founded in San Diego, California in 2004 by six Pole & Line fishing families. Headquarters is now at 995 Bay Blvd in Chula Vista, part of the San Diego metro area, while canning happens in Bellingham, Washington; Charleston, Oregon; and Alaska.
What makes pole and line fishing different from other tuna fishing methods?
Pole and line and troll fishing catch albacore one at a time on barbless hooks instead of netting entire schools. There's no bycatch and no dolphin interaction, part of why the North Pacific albacore fishery became the first tuna fishery in the world to earn MSC certification.
How can I tell which boat caught my can of tuna?
Every can has a code you can enter on American Tuna's trace-your-tuna lookup page. It shows the name of the vessel that caught the fish, connecting the can to a specific boat in the traceable fleet.
Where can I buy American Tuna?
Check the find us page for retailers carrying American Tuna near you, or order online. Subscriptions are also available for cans delivered on a regular schedule.
Support the Fleet That's Still Fishing
San Diego's tuna heritage didn't vanish — it moved north and stayed in the hands of the same kind of fishing families who built it. Every can you buy is a direct way to back that work.
Shop American Tuna or call us at (866) 817-0497.