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.

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.

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.”

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.

Executive Chef

David opened Geisha Japanese Restaurant and Tea House in Capitola in 2011 – it was the first sustainable sushi restaurant in the county, and is still one of the few in the nation. He partnered with the non-profit FishWise which helped him craft a statement about sustainable seafood for his restaurant. The restaurant in and of itself is a manifestation of his passion for Japanese folk medicine, culture, and cuisine.

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.

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.

Steve was the harbormaster in Monterey for 22 years before retiring in in February 2017. Prior to this, he was the harbormaster in Santa Cruz, where he first got to know commercial fishermen and learn about what they needed in a working harbor.