Mario Puratić (1904 - 1993) (usually spelled Puretic, and sometimes Puretich, in English) was an Austro-Hungarian Empire-born American inventor who made major advances in fishing technology, such as the Puretic power block. Puratić was born in 1904 in the town of

Sumartin Sumartin (, Previously known as Sv. Martin) is a port village in Croatia on the island of Brač. It is the youngest village on the island of Brač and administratively belongs to Municipality of Selca. According to 2011 census, it has a populati ...

on the island of

Brač Brač is an island in the Adriatic Sea within Croatia, with an area of , making it the largest island in Dalmatia, and the third largest in the Adriatic. It is separated from the mainland by the Brač Channel, which is wide. The island's tall ...

in a Croatian family of farmers and fishermen. In 1938 he emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, worked at steel works and later in the harbour of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. Looking for the open sea after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

he moved to California, to San Pedro, where many people from Brač had moved to. He hired there on tuna fisher boats and trawlers. A good catch of fish, meant that many men were necessary to pull the net on board. Within a few months, during 1953 in San Pedro he invented the Puretic power block. A job which once needed 8 to 10 people could now equally quickly be done with only 5 or 6 people, but still no one was interested in the product. In 1955 the company Marco from

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

, specialized in sea building and design, recognized the potential of his invention and its engineers produced a product for practical use called the Power Block. It has a form of evening pulley with aluminium skeleton and the central rotating element, often wrapped in hard rubber, which can work. Quality of the product was very quickly recognized and up until 1960, most fishing boats in the northern seine fleet had installed the power block. It made possible the renaissance of the moribund United States distant water tuna fleet, an event that put the United States into the forefront of the fishing world and has kept it there, helped by the adoption of synthetic fibers for netting. Due to his invention,

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

increased its fishing

pelagic fish Pelagic fish live in the pelagic zone of ocean or lake waters—being neither close to the bottom nor near the shore—in contrast with demersal fish that do live on or near the bottom, and reef fish that are associated with coral re ...

by 300 percent. The puretic power block revolutionized the fishing industry in such a way that

FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

stated that no single invention has contributed more to the success of

purse seine Seine fishing (or seine-haul fishing; ) is a method of fishing that employs a surrounding net, called a seine, that hangs vertically in the water with its bottom edge held down by weights and its top edge buoyed by floats. Seine nets can be de ...

net hauling than extensive line of Power Blocks. In 1972

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

issued a five-dollar bill with a salmon seiner on the reverse. In 1975, Mario Puratić was proclaimed the inventor of the year in the United States and also one among America's most famous 100 inventors of the 20th century.

External links

Mario Puratić (Puretic)
Tim4 (en: Team 4), drzavno2012.pgsri.hr Rijeka 2012, Prirodoslovna i grafička škola Rijeka (en: Real and Grafics School,

Rijeka Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Prim ...

), retrieved 18 October 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Puratic, Mario 1904 births 1993 deaths Croatian inventors People from Selca, Brač 20th-century American inventors Yugoslav emigrants to the United States