Steve Stagnaro once owned 60-foot and 102-foot tuna boats and spent 40 years bait-tuna fishing. In this interview, Stagnaro recalls the fishing industry, early San Diego, World War I, the influenza epidemic, the Great Depression, and World War II. Stagnaro's parents were born in Genoa, Italy, and immigrated to San Francisco, where Stagnaro was born in 1897 and they lived through the earthquake and fire. They were burned out, and they moved to Sausalito for two to three weeks, living on a boat with another family. Their family from San Diego came up and gave them some clothing and some encouragement to move. Their lateen-rigged fishing boat, with its trammel nets, was placed on a steamer, which brought it to San Diego later in 1906. They joined a small immigrant community at a place on E Street near Columbia. As a child he would catch crawfish with his friends and sell them; he would leave school after his sister dropped him off, and sell newspapers. He and his friends would go to Longshoremen Hall. Benson Lumber Company would bring in big log rafts. He was finally told that he must either go to school or to work, and he chose work. He spent a couple of years in a foundry when he was about 15. After that he went to work with his brother fishing. He married Katie and had two daughters and a son. The interview was done at Stagnaro's home on State Street in San Diego. Bill Hubner is mentioned during the interview.
