Befumo Family

In November 1959, he left his wife Maria and two children (Carla and Ben) and came to Fremantle arriving on 14 December 1959 on the vessel Australia. He joined his sister, Livia, who had married Cono Grillo. Other family members included a younger cousin, also named Phil Befumo, who had arrived in 1951, being raised by his cousins Jim (Giacomo) and Nancy (Nunziata) Raffa on Arundel Street.

Soon after arriving, Filippo began fishing on the Rising Fast, after a position became available as a deckhand on Christmas Eve that same year. He completed two seasons on the Rising Fast, then moved back to Fremantle and joined Fedele (Phil) Vinci as crew, helping him build the Adriatic in time for the 1961 season – a Coleman built boat. That year Fedele’s brother Nino was also onboard as crew, as well as Fedele’s compare Nino Carrello (later owned the Curlew).

23 months after first arriving, Filippo’s family joined him from Sicily in 1961 on the Oceania.

After 2 seasons with the Vinci’s, he was recruited by Giuseppe Merlino on the San Bartolomeo for his net skills and joined him in time for the Herring season. In those days the boats would stop crayfishing at the end of April, and start net fishing for Herring from May onwards. It was a friendship that would last for many years, and Filippo and Giuseppe Merlino were as thick as thieves.

In 1966 he had saved enough to purchase his own boat, the Babe Ruth. He purchased the boat with license F374 having 99 pots from Tony Pittorini for $10,000 (initially in partnership with others). The Babe Ruth was a 33-foot launch boat, barely visible above the waterline. He had various crew, including Tony Gangemi, Claude Costanzo and Bart Locantro. In 1968, Filippo’s father, Benedetto joined him in Fremantle where he would see out the rest of his life. By 1981, Filippo’s son, also named Ben was 21 years old. He joined him fishing the year they decided to build a new boat, the Lisa Maree – named after Mother and daughter (The name Maree Lisa was already taken). The Lisa Maree was a 46-foot plywood boat built by respected boat builder, Warren Mews. His slipways were located where the Kailis Fish Market Restaurant resides. That same year, Mews build other notable crayboats, including the 52-foot Mascot, and the 48-foot Gran Sasso. Other Mews boats of that era included the Marina, the Spadafora and the Sparviero. With the harbour redevelopment works, Mews was forced to move in with Marko’s boatbuilders down the road. In 1988, The Befumo’s added a flybridge to the Lisa Maree, and they predominantly fished from Fremantle. In 2002, they engaged Bill Plug of IMAX in Henderson to build them a new aluminium boat. The new Lisa Marie was 57-foot, powdered by a 850HP MTU. Bill also built the Predator, and Southwinds. All 3 boats are still operating in the fishery, In 2006, the difficult decision was made to sell the Lisa Marie and lease the license out. It was bought by the Watkins family of Mandurah and renamed Ty-Winds. It was at a time when quota was being introduced into the Rock Lobster Fishery, a decision that Filippo’s son Ben was dead against. Ben had been instrumental in advocating for the smaller fishing families, having held various leadership roles on the Fremantle Professional Fisher’s Association, the WA Rock Lobster Fishers’ Federation and the Western Rock Lobster Council. Ben became involved in advocacy when in 1988, the controversial and permanent 10% pot reduction rules were implemented. Those pots (or units) were permanently removed from the fishery without a buyback or compensation of any kind. The Campaign Against Pot Reductions (CAPR) was a movement within the Industry to advocate for fairer outcomes. As a result, the WA Rock Lobster Fishers’ Federation was formed in 1998, after Greg Crombie, a previous deckhand from Geraldton who had become a schoolteacher, became involved. Greg was a champion of the underdog. He was ahead of his time in many respects, championing for “property rights” – a concept that at the time, was quite new, and an issue that still plagues industry with ongoing uncertainty to this day. It ultimately led to the formation of the Western Rock Lobster Council, the dissolution of the RLIAC, and to a stronger, more unified industry than ever before. The Befumo family still hold their original license F374, and remain as passionate about the industry, and the legacy left behind, as ever.