Jeff and Emily Stackhouse are life-long agriculturalists who recently found a shared love of fishing off the Northern California coast. Both raised on sheep farms, they have built a life around farming and wilderness. Prior to working on the water, Jeff worked for the University of California as a farm advisor. In 2014, after a few years running a guided hunting operation he thought it was only natural to start a charter fishing business on his boat the FV Gorilla fishing out of Humboldt Bay and Crescent City, California.

For many food producers, COVID was a turning point. For Jeff and Emily, it was an opportunity to turn "Stackhouse Guide Service" into a commercial fishing operation. Fishing with a rod and reel they target a variety of rockfish including, canary rockfish, yellowtail rockfish, and lingcod. In the fall they target albacore tuna. 

They pride themselves on the handling and resulting quality of their catch. Starting with day trips - the fastest way to get fish from the ocean to your plate - each fish is handled one by one, and bled immediately for the most humanely and high quality filets. 

From a sustainability standpoint their ocean ethics are as high as they come while also being grounded in the reality that diversity of fishing techniques is critical for feeding our communities. As Emily put it,  "It is an honor to be a small-scale, sustainable, hook and line fisherman/fisherwoman. The world has diverse demands and needs a diverse fishing fleet to provide high-quality protein to the people, so our high-end, sustainable fishing is not affordable to all, but we would like to see the harvested product be treated with the most care and respect as possible."

When it comes to preparing their catch, Jeff loves his canary rockfish in fish tacos with the "Thai-One-On" recipe using a creamy peanut sauce from the Field to Table Cookbook. Emily loves her albacore pan seared with teriyaki/sesame blend and wasabi.

Emily did a great job summarizing the essence of this amazing fishing partnership: "It goes without saying, the North Coast is an incredibly special place on earth. Being able to fish as a husband-wife team on such pristine reefs with jaw-dropping coastal views is a wonderful treat in itself! We love and cherish our time together on the water!"