June 2024 - Director's Corner

By Melissa Mahoney - June 3, 2024

One of the most powerful ideas I have ever known is this: the best way to predict the future is to create it. 

Guided by the northstar of our 2024-28 Strategic Plan, we developed a new 2-year Initiative, “Food from the Sea: Developing a Shared Vision for Monterey Bay Ocean-Based Food Systems”. In partnership with  Regenerative California, Real Good Fish, the University of California Santa Cruz Center for Agroecology, the City of Monterey, and the Moss Landing Harbor District, we submitted a funding proposal to the USDA’s Regional Food System Partnership program to lead a community-based process that will result in a shared 10-year vision for a resilient and regenerative ocean-based food economy in the Monterey Bay region.

The project would start later this fall (after our 10-yr Anniversary celebration, of course!) with an economic assessment of fishery activity data for the region and the broader regional ocean-based food system to inform public dialogue about the past, present, and potential future of our working waterfronts. These results will be compiled into a “Current Status Report” that synthesizes key themes around the challenges and relative health of Monterey Bay fisheries.

Once we have robust and current data we’ll host a series of community workshops to seek deep input on the ideas, needs, hopes and fears of the waterfront community and start to shape a common vision for what our future can look like when we have a plan. We will ultimately come away with a 10-yr vision, and a 5-year Action Plan to get the ball rolling. 

For me, this kind of work is the most important, the most challenging, and the most rewarding. I hope you will join us once we get going! Together we are creating a brighter future for our community and ensuring the Monterey Bay region can support the long-term resilience of the fishing industry in a changing world.