Marion Joncich, Joseph C. Mardesich and Antonia Dogdanovich v. Anthony Vitco

Appellants owned and operated the Pioneer, a fishing vessel engaged in the tuna trade off the coast of California and Mexico. In the fall of 1951, pursuant to an oral contract, Vitco, the appellee, was employed aboard the Pioneer as a fisherman-cook for the 1952 tuna fishing season. He was employed on a lay basis; that is, he was to receive as wages a share of the proceeds of each catch.

Just prior to the first trip, Vitco and other members of the crew signed articles with the Master of the Pioneer, “now bound from the Port of Los Angeles, California, to Mexican Waters and such other ports and…