Legendary Tuna Shipyards: Campbell Industries (USA)

This year marks a special milestone for us: TH COMPANY, owner of the MARCO technology and brand, celebrates its 60th anniversary. Throughout these six decades, the company has worked closely with the global tuna industry as a leader in deck equipment and hydraulic systems for tuna vessels through its MARCO brand.

Because of the importance of the tuna industry to our company, we would like to dedicate a monthly LinkedIn series to the legendary tuna shipyards that helped shape the modern tuna fishing industry. These builders played a fundamental role in developing the vessels that made today’s global tuna fleet possible.

We begin this journey in San Diego, California, with one of the most iconic tuna shipyards: Campbell Industries Shipyard.

Campbell Industries was founded in 1906 as Campbell Machine Company, initially operating as a builder and repair yard for tuna seiners. During the golden era of the American tuna fleet, Campbell Industries became one of the most prolific builders of tuna purse seiners, delivering vessels that would operate throughout the Eastern Pacific and beyond.

Conquistador was the first modern purse seiner built at the shipyard. Other notable vessels included Elizabeth C.J., Pan Pacific, El Rifle and Evelyn da Rosa. The last three purse seiners built at the yard were Via Mistral, Via Avenir, and Via Euros, delivered in the early 1990s.

Key figures of this legendary shipyard:

• Around 150 vessels built during its decades of activity, many of them tuna purse seiners
• A cornerstone of the historic San Diego tuna fleet
• Vessels delivered to fleets operating across Latin America and the Pacific
• Designs that helped establish the operational standards of modern tuna purse seiners

After changing ownership several times, the shipyard finally closed in 1991. Today, part of the land where it once operated is home to the San Diego Convention Center.

For companies working in deck equipment and fishing technology, these shipyards are an essential part of the heritage of our industry.