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

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.

There are many ways people get into the seafood business. For Jenn Gerard Lovewell of Real Good Fish, an early career providing locally sourced, nutritious meals to school children in cafeterias led her to her current work sourcing sustainable seafood from the Moss Landing docks.

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.”

Alan founded Real Good Fish (formerly Local Catch Monterey Bay in 2012) as a solution to reconnect our communities to the ocean and local fisheries. Alan was honored at the White House in 2016 as a “Champion of Change” for innovations in Sustainable Seafood.

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.

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.

Wholesale Fish Buyer & Seller

Roger Whitney has been part of the Monterey Bay fishing community since he was a child. He grew up fishing for albacore, salmon and smelt in the Monterey Bay with his father.

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 & 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.

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