SAN DIEGO, Calif. (CBS 8) - When John Zolezzi and his son Anthony stroll the Embarcadero, they are awash in waves of memories.
"I was a fisherman from the age that I as long as I had any recollection, I was going to become a fisherman. The whole family was that way," Anthony said.
"My father and my grandfather were rod cod fishermen originally here in San Diego," John
For years, when San Diego was port to t he largest tuna fleet in the world, the Zolezzis called these docks home.
"At Christmas time, all of us would be working down at the boats because the boats would be all in before they'd leave and all along this Embarcadero they were two and three deep," Anthony said.
Anthony Zolezzi has written a tribute to San Diego's golden age of tuna fishing and how it inspired him to be a highly successful entrepreneur. "Unchartered Waters, Boat to Boardroom; Lessons that I've Learned" contains some fabulous family photos and warm recollections.
"When I turned 12, that's when my dad predetermined that I go fishing," Anthony said.
It was off the coast of San Diego that lessons were passed down from father to son.
"As long as the boat's rocking it makes it a little easier. The boat, the fish is hitting his tail so hard he'll swim aboard," John said.
Anthony has parlayed the lessons learned aboard his father's boat into a burgeoning business career that launched more than 25 different companies, including the franchised Bubba Gump Shrimp Company.
"I really didn't realize this until this year, I mean how impactful that was on everything I've done in business until this day," Anthony said.
From the tranquil waters of San Diego Bay to the shark-infested boardrooms of America, this son of fishermen has learned his lessons well.
