When it comes to long standing fishing heritage in the Monterey Bay, you'd be hard pressed to find a family more deeply rooted than the Aliottis. Adam Aliotti is a fourth generation fisherman making the Monterey Bay his home and livelihood. Originally from Italy, Adam's great grandfather, Salvatore Mirabella, made a living fishing seiners part of the year and fishing salmon in Bristol Bay Alaska. Adam's grandfather, Giuseppe Aliotti, fished albacore, salmon and octopus, the way his family did back in the Mediterranean. It was with wicker woven octopus traps that Giuseppe stumbled upon and pioneered the spot prawn fishery in California in the '50s and worked with Governor Brown Sr. to establish the fishery back in the '70s. 

Adam started fishing with his grandfather at just 6 years old, chasing king salmon. At 17 he was fishing full-time and hasn't stopped. On his boat, the FV Ocean Warrior, Adam fishes primarily spot prawns and is one of only a handful of boats permitted to catch this highly prized and sought after species. During the off season, Adam fishes king salmon, black cod, and albacore.

When it comes to his favorite fish to catch, without question it is king salmon. Not because they are exciting to catch or delicious to eat, but because of the nostalgia. He loves trolling and working up and down the coast, remembering his childhood and fishing with his grandfather. Ironically, king salmon is his least favorite fish to eat.

Adam's favorite fish to eat is white seabass on the bar-b-que, Italian style, with chopped tomatoes, garlic, fresh basil, olive oil, and a little red wine vinegar. 

Brendan grew up in Santa Cruz, fishing with his grandfather, and his mother. “My mom is a great steelhead fisher,” he said. “She really knows how to read a river.” He’s 27 years, old, and believes that it’s important that younger people take up the mantle and fish commercially, but he approaches it with the perspective that fishermen are stewards of the ocean. It’s no surprise that he’s also a biology student at UC Santa Cruz, and believes that fishermen and marine resource managers can work together to create a sustainable system. 

He started off working as a deckhand on charter boats out of San Francisco and Santa Cruz, and now deckhands for commercial crabbing and salmon boats out of Moss Landing. He runs his own skiff, Mysealium, out of Santa Cruz and works the open access fisheries like white sea bass, halibut, sand dabs, and ling cod. His favorite fish to eat is Petrale sole, noting the light texture and mild flavor. But he likes to fish for California halibut the best. “It’s a nice long drift, not too crowded with other boats,” he explained. “When the tide shifts and the bite turns on, it gets exciting.”

Wilson started fishing in 1968 with his father out of Santa Cruz. He's moved from harbor to harbor, like many fishermen on our coast, to find fish. From black cod, salmon, rockfish, and now spot prawns, Wilson is one of the fortunate fishermen in our community who fishes full time. Wilson's favorite fish to cook and eat is not surprising: spot prawns. And his favorite way to prepare them is simply marinated, with butter, garlic, white wine, and fresh herbs, then onto the grill for 2 minutes per side - nothing more - to avoid the risk of overcooking.

Scott caught his first fish at the age of 4, and from then on he was hooked. From trout and bass in the mountains to halibut off our coast, Scott found himself spending most of his free time on the water. At the age of 33 he decided to fully commit to his passion and pursue a career as a commercial fisherman. A few years later, Scott and his father, "Biggie," bought the F/V Tidepoint, named after Scott's great grandfather's tug boat harbored in Oregon.

When he's not fishing on the F/V Tidepoint, you can often find him fishing on Stan Bruno's boat. Sustainability is crucial in Scott's eyes, which is why he handles younger, smaller fish more carefully and throws them back, because he "sees his future in those fish." In that same way, he also knows how important it is to have a younger generation of fishermen to bring our community fish, which is why he gets a great deal of fulfillment seeing kids playing on the docks, just like he did as a child. Scott enjoys fishing for sand dabs, salmon, and albacore, but Dungeness crab is his favorite.