Heidi Rhodes, H&H Fresh Fish

Owner, CEO

Heidi Rhodes with a California halibut.

A few years before community-supported fisheries (CSFs) even became a thing, Heidi Rhodes was offering locally caught fish at farmers markets in Santa Cruz. It all started in 2003 with Rhodes selling king salmon caught by her business partner Hans Haveman at the Cabrillo College farmers market in Aptos. 

Fast-forward nearly two decades, Rhodes is still selling fish at farmers markets while also managing a CSF, a fish market at Santa Cruz Harbor, and Shucked Raw Bar — a seafood catering business.

“When I first got into the seafood business with Hans, what we were doing was pretty simple,” Rhodes says. “But we definitely learned as we grew year by year.”

H&H Fresh Fish, owned and operated by both Rhodes and Haveman, is the resident seafood buyer of Santa Cruz Harbor, sourcing the daily catch from local fishermen. Haveman can still be found on the water commercial fishing, but much of his role is now finding the best products on the docks and from wholesalers. Rhodes, on the other hand, manages business operations, customer service, and marketing.

“I love being down at the docks. Hans and I have a good cop/bad cop role, and I usually get to be the nice one,” she says. “I'm the one office that cuts the checks. Hans is the one that gets to talk about pricing and stuff like that.”

After nearly a decade of primarily selling the local catch at farmers markets in the region, in 2012, Rhodes created the H&H Fresh Fish CSF, delivering the seasonal catch to seafood lovers in the greater Santa Cruz area weekly. 

Rhodes and Haveman opened a fish market at Santa Cruz Harbor in the spring of 2018, continuing to expand their business from selling at 17 farmers markets and providing and delivering seafood boxes to subscribers. Later that year, they launched Shucked Raw Bar to cater events and parties with oysters, caviar, poke, and other raw and cured seafood products. 

The catering business took a hit with the COVID-19 restrictions on public gatherings, but Rhodes is optimistic that business will pick up as restrictions are lifted. But, the pandemic created new opportunities with many people looking to join CSFs as they could no longer go to restaurants to order fresh seafood. Rhodes saw that aspect of their business quadruple.

Rhodes and Haveman have two children together, Dahlia, 15, and Sebastian, 12, both of whom pick up hours working for their parents. Rhodes says she tries to make all of her employees and fishermen she sources from feel like they are part of a family, noting her business would not be possible without them.

“Food brings people together, and the fact that people go out of their way to come see us and to buy fish when they could get it at the grocery store—that they value our service and our product—that's definitely my favorite part of this business,” Rhodes says.

“Everything I have and everything my children have in our life is because people come and buy fish from us, and they have been for almost 20 years, and that's mind-blowing to me. So, I'm so grateful.”