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The Saraspe Family Business
Your San Diego Fishing Family
The Saraspe Family has been in the local fishing business since 1952 when Lauro Saraspe built his first boat in his Pacific Beach garage. Lauro plied the waters off San Diego for more than 60 years, trapping lobster, fishing tuna and harpooning swordfish. Son, Andy, followed in his footsteps, expanding the business into deeper waters, a more varied catch and, eventually, dockside processing. Nearly 70 years later, Andy’s daughter, Tanner, started Saraspe Seafoods, the final link in the chain from sea to table.
Saraspe Seafoods is a family business with deep roots in the San Diego community and close relationships with the local fishermen. We want to do what produce growers have done with farmer’s markets, deliver the very best, freshest, ethically and sustainably sourced ingredients directly to our customers. Unless you’re going to catch it yourself…
Our Specialty: Spot Prawn
We are a third-generation California family fishery that has been servicing the San Diego area since the early 50s. You will not find grocery store seafood here. Our seafood is caught with love, passion, and pride. We service restaurants, catering companies, and public events such as farmers and fishermen markets.
Founded by the daughter of a third generation commercial fisherman, our company was created to help make seafood more accessible to locals while also helping San Diego Commercial fishermen make a fair wage.
The Saraspe family is widely recognized as an industry leader in San Diego in supporting and utilizing responsible harvest methods and practices in the seafood industry.
The Saraspe Family Story
The Saraspe family has been servicing the San Diego area since the early ‘50s. The family’s fleet was established in 1952 when Lauro Saraspe built his first skiff. Unlike the average college student, he fished the early mornings before class and would drive around selling that morning’s catch to restaurants and wholesalers at lunchtime. He was one of the first fishermen in San Diego to supply Chesapeake Fish Co. and Anthony’s Fish Grotto.
The fascination with fishing all started with Lauro, a father to three children, and grandfather to seven. Lauro’s children accompanied him on many of his fishing trips to San Clemente Island, sometimes for weeks at a time. His two daughters, Elizabeth and Alexandra and his son Andy maintain a true love for the ocean that was imprinted at a young age.
Adapting over the years, Lauro Saraspe decided to venture into new fisheries. He transitioned to Spot Prawn fishing in the early 1980s and has been trap fishing for prawn for over 38 years. The Spot Prawn fishery in California is limited to 16 permits making it an extremely regulated limited-entry fishery. Today, Andy holds one of the 16 Spot Prawn permits in all of California.
As a family, we are determined to change the way local products are marketed. In 2015, we shifted our family business from selling straight to distributors and instead built a brand that is geared towards serving the greater community and supporting sustainable food systems. Living in a multi-generational fishing family, we hold onto a tenet that all fishermen know; suffering is temporary, but the pride in our work and gifts of our experiences are long-lasting. As a family fleet of artisanal fishermen we understand the importance of preserving our resources for the next generations to come. It is our goal to make our locally-caught products more accessible for the direct consumer, allowing them to get a taste of real freshness.
