In the 20th century, the tuna canning industry brought São Jorge one of the most prosperous periods in its modern economic history. Two factories turned Atlantic catch into tins prized in Portugal and abroad. One closed; the other — Santa Catarina, at Fajã Grande — is still at work.
The two factories
There were two tuna canneries on the island, with different fates:
- One beside Porto da Calheta, in the bay that shelters the town. The industrial building is still visible on the south coast; that plant no longer operates and stands as a witness of the first canning era.
- Another at Fajã Grande, on the sea at Calheta municipality. That is the Santa Catarina factory, still canning and the island's main private employer.
From boat to tin
Tuna reached the ports of Calheta and Fajã Grande on fleet boats. In the factories, women and men worked production lines: cleaning, cutting, cooking, canning and packing. The smell of fresh tuna and olive oil filled the shore during campaign months.
The industry created steady employment on an island historically marked by isolation and dependence on farming and cattle. Whole families lived — and many still live — on cannery wages.
Interruptions and the 1995 restart
Canning has existed in Vila da Calheta since the 1940s. The Fajã Grande factory was built in 1940. As on other islands, there were crises of catch and of markets; work was not continuous in every decade.
The precise date of the modern reactivation is 5 April 1995: Calheta Town Council founded Santa Catarina – Indústria Conserveira, S.A. to resume operations at Fajã Grande. A period under the local José Leovigildo business group followed.
In 2009 the private company went bankrupt. The Regional Government of the Azores acquired the plant through Lotaçor, to keep jobs on the island. On 2 August 2022 operation of the factory was concessioned to Sociedade Conserveira Açoriana (SCA) after a public tender. The Santa Catarina brand and the work at Fajã Grande continued through that handover — it was not a new shutdown.
Today
Santa Catarina processes tuna caught mainly by pole-and-line (salto e vara) in Azorean waters and ships tins to regional, national and export markets. Calheta's patron saint is Saint Catherine — the same dedication that names the factory.
The closed building in Calheta bay remains in the townscape. São Jorge's canning tradition is not only memory: it is at Fajã Grande, on every working day.
See also: Fishing and the Sea · Whalers