Tag Archives: fisherman Tim Obert
Santa Cruz salmon fishermen facing challenges keeping afloat
The abrupt end of salmon season, announced on April 10, has left commercial fishermen across the Central Coast grappling with economic fallout and seeking alternative income sources. “It’s frustrating to see, and I’m losing faith that we might ever even have salmon season again,” said Heidi Rhodes, CEO of H&H Fresh Fish Market. “It’s just been honestly catastrophic. We’re all waiting, just trying, hoping some federal disaster relief will come. It’s been really hard to stay afloat,” added Rhodes. In February, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced an allocation of over $20.6 million in fishery disaster funding for last year’s closure. “The disaster relief doesn’t make anyone money; it’s a band-aid on a wound that can’t stop bleeding,” said local fisherman Tim Obert. Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:19
Crab gear reduction for commercial fishers extended through mid-March
Less than a month after the commercial Dungeness crab season opened in the Monterey Bay region, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has extended the gear reduction in all fishing zones south of the Mendocino/Sonoma County line. “It’s about the minimum we can survive on viably,” fisher Tim Obert told Lookout in January. Obert is a Santa Cruz native who has fished commercially for more than two decades. He serves as president of the Santa Cruz Commercial Fishermen’s Association and sits on the state’s Dungeness Crab Task Force. more, >>click to read<< 10:42
‘It’s not ‘us versus the whales’’: Delayed crab season weighs heavily on Central Coast fishermen
It was six days before Christmas and the December sun shone brightly off the placid waters of the Santa Cruz Harbor, illuminating towers of empty crab pots stacked on the edge of the docks. Inside a nearby meeting room, more than a dozen fishermen from Santa Cruz, Moss Landing and Monterey grabbed donuts and gray plastic chairs to discuss their most urgent concern: how to deal with the economic impact of a Dungeness crab season that, now more than a month behind schedule, had yet to open. >click to read< 06:47
