Migliore Family

Antonino later owned the fishing boat Stella. Salvatore and Francesco fished from the Wanderer.

Another cousin, Giacomo Migliore had also briefly visited and worked in WA, before moving his family to Callao in Peru. Like many other “Orlandini” Fishing families, they set up base there and their descendants now call Peru home, just as many of us call Fremantle home. Capo D’Orlando and Fremantle share “Sister City” status, and Callao could be considered “the third sister”.

It was in 1914 when tragedy first struck the Migliore family, when the eldest Brother Francesco was accidentally shot dead by a Sentry off Rottnest Island. See Story https://www.flatsea.org/fishing-lives-lost/stories/francesco-migliori-(migliore)

Interestingly, a cousin, Cono Cicerello, was lost at sea off Callao in 1903 – tragedies of this kind were all too common in their early fishing days.

Salvatore and Antonino remained in the early Crayfishing industry in WA. Antonino was well respected, passing away in 1937 after serving as Vice-chairman of the Crayfish Industry Association. He was also a foundation member of the Club Giovane Italia. Just like his older Brother who tragically died, his funeral was well attended.

Salvatore turned his attention to fishing and “beehive” pot making, setting up a yard at his residence on Norfolk Street where he made thousands of pots. He always wore a fedora hat and could be found at the Norfolk pub every afternoon in the same seat. There is a hat peg on the wall with a plaque to his memory. He passed away in 1972.

It is likely the original crayfish “trap” was first introduced by a Victorian Cray fisherman who had moved to WA in 1896. It replaced “cray-hoops” as a method of catching lobsters. James (Jimmy) Cuthbert Brown had arrived from the Victorian Port of Queenscliff with his 34ft vessel the Silvery Wave. A new trap design had been used there, based on creels introduced by Cornish fishers. Early pioneers like Salvatore Migliore likely perfected the trap using a basket weave design. Materials for “beehive” pot making have remained relatively unchanged since the technique, if not the form, was used in the early 1900s. The only significant innovation to improve expected pot life was the adoption of galvanised rod to replace the plain mild steel which corroded so rapidly in the marine environment. The supply of tea tree was also crucial.

Pots varied between fisher’s, depending on the men who made them. Italian fishermen tried a squatter shaped beehive but later returned to using the standard shape. Although all crew members helped to make the pots each year, there was usually a specialist who could do the important “contours” or shaping.

By 1975, Salvatore’s son Sylvie had followed his Father in pot making, was travelling as far as Beverley and Narrogin to access suitable tea tree for his pot fabricating business. Tea tree is the preferred material for the sides and top of a pot because the rough bark attracts rapid weed growth to camouflage its appearance on the sea bottom. Rattan cane for weaving the neck and base of the “beehive” is imported in bundles from Malaysia and Indonesia by Marine suppliers. The added advantage of the beehive is that it can be “conditioned” to fish quite quickly and can roll out from under an overhanging reef if snagged. It could also last longer, often securing two seasons if reinforced with wire mesh after the first season. Sylvie was interviewed in 1980. He stated this his Father Salvatore and his German partner were making craypots before World War 1. When Sylvie retired in 1986, he estimated he had made 350,000 “beehives” during the 35 years he had worked in Fremantle. He produced miniature beehives as souvenirs during the America’s Cup Defence in 1987. These days, beehive pots have been largely superseded in the Rock Lobster industry by timber batten “slats”. They remain a cultural symbol of the early Fishing industry, and the Artisan methods utilised by the roughened hands of these earliest fisherfolk.