Andrés Jacobo, Deyerle Brothers Seafood

Plant Manager

Photo credit: Nick Rahaim

Andrés Jacobo stood over a table of seasoned bread crumbs with three others on a recent afternoon, dredging cleaned squid and stacking them in neat towers before being packaged and shipped off to the Deyerle family’s Sea Harvest restaurants and markets.

Earlier that morning, he was overhauling longline gear before the hooks would be baited and set in the Monterey Bay. A few days before that, he was cleaning black cod before it hit the local supply chain.

As plant manager for Deyerle Brothers Seafood in Moss Landing, Jacobo is tasked with running much of the land-based operations, overseeing a staff of five to 12—season depending.

“It’s fun here,” he says. “Every day is different, so it never gets boring.”

Jacobo, 33, grew up in Michoacán, Mexico and came to the United States when he was 19 years old. He now lives in Salinas with his wife and two children. He has worked for the Deyerle family for 8 years and has been a manager for 5 years.

One of the perks of working for a family business is the emphasis on family, Jacobo says. He regularly brings is 11-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son to work where they might help him out in the warehouse or just explore the harbor and beach.

Having kids around keeps the atmosphere lighthearted and warm, whether it’s his children or those of others. Fisherman Calder Deyerle’s young son Miles is often found engaged in a mixture of work and play at the facility, creating chuckles as he entertains himself.

Jacobo might not venture out onto the water but he enjoys being the first point of local seafood’s contact with land. His favorite is grilled Monterey Bay halibut topped with onions, artichoke and tomatoes.

“I love fish and I love to cook. Being here is great,” he says.