The day starts early for Santa Cruz-native Matt Rockhold, 49. Most days he wakes up before sunrise to motor his boat, F/V Friendliest Catch, out of the Santa Cruz harbor to fish for either rock crab or California halibut and lingcod. By lunchtime his boat is tied up at the dock and he’s off to his other full time job as marketing director for Buell Wetsuits & Surf. If the surfs up, he’ll paddle out before heading home. Learn more about Matt’s many talents and presence in this community.

Roberts currently manages domestic sales and operations at Del Mar Seafoods based in Watsonville. Randy started with the company in 1993, learning the ropes and advancing up the ladder to where he is today.

Neil Guglielmo, owner of the F/V Trionfo in Monterey, has been commercial fishing for 62 years. While his dad tried to dissuade him from fishing for a living, a life on the ocean was exactly what he wanted.

While the commercial fishing industry often attracts those with an independent spirit, creativity, and a sense of entrepreneurship, few embody these traits as fully as Santa Cruz fisherman Khevin Mellegers. He currently fishes for sablefish and Dungeness crab on the F/V Areona.

Seventeen years ago, before seafood was called “sustainable”, fisherman Hans Haveman was selling his catch at Monterey Peninsula farmers' markets and telling people why they should buy local fish. “I saw that there was real passion in organic food,” he said. “And I liked being a part of that.”

Scott Fosmark is a fifth generation commercial fisherman from Monterey. He came of age learning how to wrestle salmon, albacore tuna, and even swordfish onto the deck and into the hold.

Joeleen lives off both land and sea. When she’s not working on her ranch in Carmel Valley, she’s wrangling the team on the light touch trawler, the F/V Pioneer, alongside childhood friend Giusseppe ‘Joe’ Pennisi. She’s a relative new commer to the industry but picked up the ropes very quickly. Her potent combination of determination and charm is hard to forget.

Vicki Crow can be found on Dock A in Moss Landing most days selling fish and crab from her boat, the Beticia. She tries to carry what’s in season but has a freezer stocked with the local catch to keep up the supply when fishing’s slow.

Fisherman

There are few people who are as excited to get up in the morning and go to work as David Toriumi, 36, a Watsonville native who fishes out of Santa Cruz. Toriumi made his passion a profession and still hasn’t lost his youthful enthusiasm for the sea in doing so.

Fisherman & Fishmonger

Brendan Pini is co-founder of Fished and Foraged, a Santa Cruz based company that provides fish from the Monterey Bay and mushrooms from the Santa Cruz mountains to local restaurants and markets.

Deckhand

Lorenzo grew up in Watsonville, but much of his education took place in Moss Landing and on the Monterey Bay. Starting at about the age of five, his father took him to the jetty and beach to fish, and then out on a motorboat to where they spent weekends baiting hooks and casting.

Community Supported Fishery (CSF), Fishermen

Having met each other in school, Ian Cole and Charlie Lambert began exploring their passion to make fresh, local seafood accessible to their communities. The goal of Ocean2Table is to deliver fresh fish (within one day of being caught), while also educating the consumer about where their fish is coming from.

Fisherman

Born into a fishing family, Jerid grew up on the ocean. Starting at the age of five, he spent his childhood fishing with his dad on albacore boats.

Fisherman & Fishmonger

Calder Deyerle fishes for Dungeness crab, King salmon, California halibut, black cod and rockfish on the Monterey Bay. He grew up crewing for his father Richard and uncle Daniel Deyerle, owners of Sea Harvest restaurants and a wholesale seafood business by the same name.

Jane DeLay has always been motivated by her love for the ocean. In 2001, she coordinated the "Fisherman's Forum on Marine Protected Areas",  a three-day conference to explore options for establishing MPA's on the central coast.

Guiseppe “Joe” Pennisi is a third generation Monterey fisherman. He began fishing at age 7, deckhanding on weekends and during summer vacation.