CFSB Board Meeting Minutes - November 13th, 2025 5PM

 

Attendees: Jeff Maassen, Jeff Hepp, Jonathan Woodcock, Shaun Roche, Ryan Hill (not CFSB member), Harry Liquornik, Chris Voss, Kim Selkoe, Ed Anderson, Scott Streett (not CFSB member), Michael Harrington, Noah Oppenheim, Jason Robinson, Andy Rasmussen, Miles Wallace, Dave Colker, Miguel (not CFSB member), Bernard Friedman 

Notes: Ava Schulenberg; Anything color coded below in  yellow indicates an agenda item we didn’t get to/ran out of time and will address at next month’s meeting

Recording: Link

Agenda:

*Housekeeping, time limits, 3 minute maximum policy on individual comments 

  1. Fishing Communities Coalition - Noah Oppenheim

  2. Sea urchin market - Jeff Maassen

  3. Ocean Rainforest demo site removed 

    1. Final seafloor cinder block components 

  4. Harbor dredging 

    1. Last remaining cycle, won’t start til 2026

  5. Bernard’s Kelp Project

    1. Google Earth 

  6. MRC Meeting Recap

    1. Minutes

  7. Safety gear reimbursement

    1. Cable Committee new grant app

  8. Gillnet fishery Indy article

  9. City Pier additional deck space update

  10. End of year financials

    1. Budgeting

  11. Harbor Festival debrief

    1. ~$3K profit

    2. Thank you to all who helped

  12. Fish and Game Commission October Meeting Recap

    1. Minutes

      1. Widespread support for regional meetings regarding MPA petitions

  13. Recent OPC Meeting Debrief

    1. Implementing 30x30

    2. Pychnopodia grant money

    3. MPA connectivity 

  14. Sea Cucumber Inquiry - Hannah Rempel PhD

  15. City Pier additional deck space update

  16. Ocean Collective project update

  17. Purple urchin removal/kelp restoration project update


 

Chris calls the meeting to order at 5:00PM upstairs in the harbor classroom. 

Agenda:

  1. Fishing Communities Coalition - Noah Oppenheim

    1. Noah introduces himself and mentions his role in coordinating the Fishing Communities Coalition (FCC)

      1. He has a two-and-a-half-year tenure coordinating the FCC and its focus on supporting small-scale commercial fisheries

    2. Noah provides a brief overview of the FCC, listing its six member organizations and their locations

      1. The FCC has been active in advancing policies at the US Department of Agriculture and promoting low-cost capital access for commercial fishermen

      2. The organization aims to significantly increase its lobbying presence in Washington, DC, with the help of a retained lobbying firm

      3. Noah highlights the importance of congressional champions from key geographies, particularly in Alaska and Maine, in advancing the FCC's goals

    3. Noah discusses the benefits of joining the FCC, including free trips to Washington, DC, and the opportunity to influence national policy

      1. The FCC offers a generous travel budget for fly-ins, where commercial fishermen can meet with congressional staff and administration officials

      2. Noah emphasizes the importance of having a voice in Washington, especially in light of the Trump administration's impact on the industry

      3. The FCC is looking to expand its membership strategically, with CFSB being a potential new member

        1. Andy supports the idea of joining the FCC, noting the current need for a voice in Washington due to the Trump administration's actions

        2. The room openly discusses the potential benefits and challenges of joining the FCC, including the need for staff time and resources

        3. The conversation highlights the importance of having a strong voice in national policy discussions to address industry concerns

  2. Sea urchin market - Jeff Maassen

    1. Jeff raises concerns about foreign sea urchins being dumped on the market, affecting local urchin divers and their markets

    2. Jeff explains the impact of foreign imports on the local urchin market, particularly during the peak season

    3. The CA Sea Urchin Commission's response has been inadequate, with no effective action taken to address the issue

    4. Jeff requests staff time in the form of Ava’s work and any other resources from CFSB to research and address the import issue, including identifying the origin of the imports and their impact on the local market

      1. Chris suggests potentially allocating staff time to assist Jeff in researching this import issue, including collecting data on the volume of imports

      2. Jeff emphasizes the importance of identifying the origin of the imports and the need for enforcement of truth-in-labeling laws

      3. The conversation highlights the need for a coordinated effort to address the import issue, involving both local and federal agencies

      4. Ava expresses frustration over the fact that she wasn’t notified prior to this being brought up, and found it disrespectful that Jeff would be assigning her tasks assuming she would do/be able to do whatever was decided for her; she has concerns about the workload amongst other responsibilities that are more prioritized (lobster association responsibilities), especially given the fact that she is not a diver/tender

        1. Jeff apologizes for assuming that she’d have the bandwidth to take this on

      5. The board discusses the potential need for an outside consultant to help with the research, given the limited resources of CFSB; Kim also says she can help look into it with her recent connections from the Local Catch Network event she went to 

      6. Jeff suggests reaching out to the Urchin Commission and other relevant agencies for support in addressing the import issue

      7. The conversation concludes with a commitment to explore potential solutions and allocate resources to address the import issue effectively

        1. Jeff offered to prepare a work plan and budget

        2. Ava suggests also keeping this as an agenda item to make sure the topic remains a part of our Board meeting conversations

  3. Ocean Rainforest demo site removed 

    1. Final seafloor cinder block components 

  4. Harbor dredging 

    1. Last remaining cycle, won’t start til 2026

  5. Bernard’s Kelp Project

    1. Google Earth 

  6. MRC Meeting Recap

    1. Minutes

  7. Safety gear reimbursement

    1. Cable Committee new grant app

  8. Gillnet fishery Indy article

  9. City Pier additional deck space update

  10. End of year financials

    1. Budgeting

  11. Harbor Festival debrief

    1. ~$3K profit

    2. Thank you to all who helped

  12. Fish and Game Commission October Meeting Recap

    1. Minutes

      1. Widespread support for regional meetings regarding MPA petitions

  13. Recent OPC Meeting Debrief

    1. Implementing 30x30

    2. Pychnopodia grant money

    3. MPA connectivity 

  14. Sea Cucumber Inquiry - Hannah Rempel PhD

  15. City Pier additional deck space update

  16. Ocean Collective project update

  17. Purple urchin removal/kelp restoration project update

 

Chris ends the meeting at 6:01PM upstairs in the harbor classroom.