Solicito Salvador

Solicito"Mike"Salvador,originallySalvadore Sollecito(1869–1924), was a leader and innovator in the Florida shrimping industry inFernandina Beach, Florida.He is listed as aGreat Floridian.

Born in 1869, Sollecito Salvatore came fromSyracuse, Sicily,as a merchant seaman aboard an Italian freighter forced by a hurricane to lay over at thePort of FernandinainFernandina, Florida.

Salvador came toNew Orleansin 1895 on abanana boat.He traveled toCedar Keyand then Fernandina in 1898 by train.He first worked as an interpreter, fishing part-time. Then he got into shrimping.He experimented with preservatives so shrimp could be shipped and tried canning.He used large shrimp shipments to secure refrigerated car lots and usedhaul seinesto increase catch size.As others copied his innovations, the local industry expanded and corollary businesses such as boat building prospered.He used modifiedotter trawlnets to greatly expand the catch and make use of deeper waters.He and his brother-in-law, Salvatore Versaggi, expanded operations toSt. Augustine, Florida.Salvador founded the Salvador Fish Company in 1906 and by 1921 was shipping across the U.S. and internationally to countries including Canada and Denmark. He died in 1924.

A blue plaque commemorating Salvador is located at the site of his family residence at 20 South 4th Street in Fernandina Beach.

Further reading

• Sollecito 'Mike' Salvador Story; Birthplace of the Modern Shrimping Industryby Helen Gordon Litrico