The
History of
Capt. Joe & Sons
The History of Captain Joe & Sons
Captain
Joe Ciaramitaro was born in Detroit, Michigan on January
6, 1915. He was two years old when his father died. His
family then went back to Sicily where he learned to fish.
At the age of fifteen he returned to the United States
and settled in Gloucester, Massachusetts where he fished
on several trawlers.
Captain Joe met and married Felicia Curcuru at the age of 23 in 1938. With the help of Ben Curcuru, Captain Joe had his first boat built - the "Ben and Josephine".
The Ben and Josephine was launched in March of 1941, however the vessel was sunk off the coast of Maine by a German U-Boat.
When
Captain Joe tried to board the Ben and Josephine to get
the compass out of the Germans thought he was going to
radio the Coast Guard with the location of the Germans.
The Germans shot at him with machine guns so he came out
of the Pilot House with his hands in the up and without
the compass.
The crew of the Ben and Josephine got into the lifeboat and rowed for 36 hours and finally landed at Mt. Desert Rock off the coast of Maine.
Navigating by the stars of the night, Captain Joe led his crew to shore after a day and a half of rowing.
The
next boat built for built by Captain Joe was the
"Benjamin C". The Benjamin C was launched in
1946. He fished the Benjamin C from 1946 to 1952. The
boat was then sold to National Sea Products of Nova
Scotia.
In 1953, Captain Joe bought the former Slade Gorton property on East Main Street. The property was used as a smokehouse, salted fish house, fillet house and flakeyard. It was then that Captain Joe & Sons was formed.
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In the 60's and 70's, Captain Joe & Sons, Inc. was known for processing whiting and the company supplied A&P grocery stores throughout the United States. The company was run by Captain Joe and his two sons, Benjamin (Libby) and Charles Ciaramitaro. |
As the whiting stocks dwindled, Captain Joe & Sons handled shrimp, squid, and all sorts of groundfish.
In the
mid-70s Joe & Frank Ciaramitaro joined the company to
form the third generation. Joe and Frank worked summers
until they graduated from college to work full time along
with their fathers.
The company in the 80's and 90's mainly shipped fish and lobsters to Boston and New York markets. It quickly built a reputation for honesty and quality at reasonable prices.
The Captain Joe & Sons fleet grew to handle the fish and lobsters of 37 fishing boats and 39 lobster boats.
Today you can visit Captain Joe & Sons, in Gloucester, seven days a week to buy fish and lobster directly as the boats are being unloaded.
You simply cannot buy fish or lobster cheaper any where else.
Come down to our docks in East Gloucester to get a real feel for Gloucester's fishing experience.
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Captain Joe & Sons
Wholesale Fresh/Live New England Lobster
95 East Main Street
Gloucester, MA 01930
(978) 283-1454