Is the Port of San Francisco trying to put an 80-year-old crab company out of business?
susanreynolds.substack.com
The Alioto-Lazio Fish Company, opened in the 1940s on San Francisco’s iconic Fisherman’s Wharf, is the last of five fishing businesses started by Tom Lazio. Opened with relatives Frank Alioto and Sal Tarantino, it was a beacon to local fishermen who unloaded fresh fish and crab, sold directly to the public at wholesale prices. Granddaughters Annette and Angela started helping out in their teens, mostly in the back office. When Lazio passed away in 1998 at the age of 92, wife Annetta Alioto Lazio took over and, when she passed away in 2003 at age 98, “the girls,” as they’re known on the wharf, took over the day-to-day operations. It wasn’t easy in a male-dominated industry. The same fishermen who had worked with their grandfather for 30 years refused to deliver products. Their phone lines were cut, and when they were working they occasionally delivered death threats. Undeterred, the women found fishermen up north to come to the rescue, and today the Alioto-Lazio Fish Company is the last commercial fish processing and selling business on the wharf.
Is the Port of San Francisco trying to put an 80-year-old crab company out of business?
Is the Port of San Francisco trying to put an…
Is the Port of San Francisco trying to put an 80-year-old crab company out of business?
The Alioto-Lazio Fish Company, opened in the 1940s on San Francisco’s iconic Fisherman’s Wharf, is the last of five fishing businesses started by Tom Lazio. Opened with relatives Frank Alioto and Sal Tarantino, it was a beacon to local fishermen who unloaded fresh fish and crab, sold directly to the public at wholesale prices. Granddaughters Annette and Angela started helping out in their teens, mostly in the back office. When Lazio passed away in 1998 at the age of 92, wife Annetta Alioto Lazio took over and, when she passed away in 2003 at age 98, “the girls,” as they’re known on the wharf, took over the day-to-day operations. It wasn’t easy in a male-dominated industry. The same fishermen who had worked with their grandfather for 30 years refused to deliver products. Their phone lines were cut, and when they were working they occasionally delivered death threats. Undeterred, the women found fishermen up north to come to the rescue, and today the Alioto-Lazio Fish Company is the last commercial fish processing and selling business on the wharf.