I heard the term ‘mailbox fisherman’ recently, in reference to the 2023 salmon closure that will keep fishermen off the water this year and looking to their mailboxes instead for payment from the government.

Happy Spring! The seasons are finally turning, and this is the time of year when the wind picks up over the bay. It was fitting then that we got to hear a presentation from Mike Conroy of the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA) about the powerful movement to establish wind energy farms off California.

March was a month of big decisions, both for us and for our local fishing community. 

It was a sunny, cool January day in Moss Landing when I arrived in the early morning hours to witness a sight that hasn’t been seen here much in the past few years. An event that for decades used to happen on a daily, if not weekly basis. A long time West Coast groundfish trawler, the FV Noah’s Ark, was delivering its first load of groundfish to the dock at Moss Landing.

Last month I attended the management portion of the Marine Resource and Education Program (MREP) workshop in Vancouver, WA. I learned more about fisheries history, policy, and process in one day than I had in my 10+ years working in the trenches as a fisheries conservation practitioner!

Happy New Year! As 2023 opens a fresh start for PEACE ON EARTH, we are hopeful and excited.

It’s the end of November and I’m watching the rain fall outside my window. It dawns on me that there is just one more month left in this year and I’m astonished at the movement of time. Is the planet spinning faster or do we all just need to slow down? Writing this piece does allow me to slow down and reflect on what happened.

In early October I had the pleasure of participating in the Marine Resource Education Program, MREP, held in beautiful Newport Oregon. MREP is a program ‘by fishermen, for fishermen’ and offers workshops throughout the US with the goal of educating stakeholders on fisheries science and management process.

In a recent conversation, I was asked to explain how the Trust got started and why we do what we do. In other words, what is our origin story? I appreciated the chance to share because it told me this person was really trying to understand us in order to discern what is possible for working together in the future.

As I move through my first month on the job with the Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust, my excitement continues to run high. I accepted this position because I believe a great deal of potential exists for us to celebrate and showcase this coast’s local wild capture fisheries, rebuild markets to support fishermen and ensure long term food security for our region.