Press Release and Contacts

Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust delivers locally caught fish on May 6, 2026, to Nancy's Project, a food relief organization that partners with the food pantry at St. Paul's Episcopal Church for their Wednesday food distribution, in Salinas, Calif.

LIKE DORY in “Finding Nemo,” sometimes you just have to keep swimming, especially when it looks like there’s a long journey ahead. For Melissa Mahoney, that meant following her dream of becoming a marine biologist and ocean conservation activist like Jacques Cousteau — despite growing up in western Colorado.

Most people don’t realize how fragile and interconnected our local fisheries are and how conservation and industry are often seen as competing interests. Melissa Mahoney, Executive Director of the Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust, reveals the surprising truth that protecting fish populations and supporting fishing communities can truly go hand in hand. She shares stories that challenge conventional thinking, from the deep history of fishing in California to innovative solutions that reconnect communities with their ocean resources.

IT’S A SUNNY MORNING IN DECEMBER AND THE ROCKFISH AND BLACK COD ARE SHOWING UP IN GOOD NUMBERS, HUNGRY. At the docks in Moss Landing, Walter Deyerle, who fishes as part of a family fleet, offloads his catch from the boat straight into the back of a wholesale-to-the-public fish market his family opened in late 2023. The rockfish – specifically, vermillion rockfish, also known as “red snapper” or “rock cod” – are fresh, the red color vibrant and the fins twitching in the ice bucket.

Image: Daniel Dreifuss

To help fill empty bellies among the region's food insecure population, the Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust started the Community Seafood Program five years ago. It buys seafood from local fishing boats and donates the fresh fish to local food relief organizations.

The need is great.

In today's newscast, the Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust created their Community Seafood Program to support commercial fishing during the COVID-19 pandemic and continue delivering fresh seafood during the government shutdown.

"The Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust strongly supports Congressman Panetta's to re-introduce the Monterey Bay National Heritage Area Study Act," said Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust Executive Director Melissa Mahoney. “We appreciate that the study will uplift community voices and shine a light on our region’s unique cultural, historical, and ecological value, and provide an economic catalyst that helps support our local communities for generations to come.”

Grey Bears, a nonprofit serving older Santa Cruz County adults through healthy food distributions and community programs, is partnering with Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust (MBFT) as a new member of its Community Seafood Program. This collaboration will bring sustainably caught, high-quality seafood and hot meal offerings to support Grey Bears’ food distributions, bringing new, fresh and local food options to the tables of Santa Cruz County seniors who are part of Grey Bears’ Healthy Food Program.

The Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust is gearing up for a digital campaign aimed at providing healthy, harvested seafood to those needing food assistance.

Starting June 9, the Fisheries Trust will kick-off the 2025 Week of Seafood Giving, with a goal of raising $5,000 for the Community Seafood Program. In addition, thanks to a private supporter, all donations up to $5,000 will be matched, doubling the impact and the number of meals donated.

The donation page can be found on the Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust website at montereybayfisheriestrust.org. Donations can be made online June 9-15.