Press Release and Contacts

The nonprofit Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust produced the Monterey Bay Commercial Fisheries: Status and Trends Report with help from researchers at UC Santa Cruz, the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station. It looked at data on fishing activity from 1981 to 2024, with a detailed focus on the past 14 years, and released the findings earlier this month. 

For more than a century, commercial fishing has been woven into the history and identity of Santa Cruz. What began with small wooden fishing boats serving local communities has grown into a modern fleet that continues to supply fresh, sustainable seafood while supporting local jobs and preserving our working waterfront. Although the harbor is often celebrated for recreation, it is also home to an industry that quietly helps sustain our coastal economy.

On many mornings along Monterey Bay’s working waterfront, fishing boats return quietly to harbor after long hours at sea. Decks are washed down, crates of fish are unloaded, and the rhythm of a centuries-old industry continues — often unnoticed by visitors strolling Cannery Row or watching sea lions bark from the docks. For Melissa Mahoney, those boats represent far more than a picturesque coastal scene. They are the foundation of a regional blue economy, a cultural legacy, and a critical component of Monterey Bay’s long-term environmental stewardship.

A new report by the Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust takes a look at the state of Monterey Bay’s commercial fisheries over four decades, finding that while the region’s commercial fishing industry has fundamentally shrunk, it has become more diversified over time.

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.