CFSB Board Meeting Minutes - October 14th, 2025 4PM
Attendees: Michael Harrington, Mike Nelson, Pierre Charest, Chris Voss, Claire Gonzalez, Jason Woods, Matt Diamond, Randy Hughes, David Siordia, Ray Kennedy, Ed Anderson, Matt Hess, Harry Liquornik, Noah Strouse, Ben Hyman, Gary Burke, Mike Kenny, Jeff Hepp, Connor Streett, Melissa and Joe Garrigan, Natasha and Matt Liso, Garrett Rose, Jeff Maassen, Tony Luna, Miles Wallace
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
Agenda:
*Housekeeping, time limits, 3 minute maximum policy on individual comments
Fishermen Survey Presentation - Claire Gonzalez
Farmlink Presentation - Matt Hess
Commercial fishing slip policy update - Harry Liquornik
CUDA dock update
Commercial fishing waitlist
Transfer policy update - Chris Voss
Financials - Michael Harrington
Harbor Festival this Saturday 10/18
Lobster/crab buying price determination, size limit of 1.25 lbs
300 lbs of crab (no more than 400)
800 lbs of lobster (no more than 1000)
Fish and Game Commission October Meeting Recap
Widespread support for regional meetings regarding MPA petitions
Recent OPC Meeting Debrief
Implementing 30x30
Pychnopodia grant money
MPA connectivity
Bernard’s Kelp Project
Sea Cucumber Inquiry - Hannah Rempel PhD
Global Ghost Gear Initiative August Workshop Recap
Fishermen’s Safety Training August Recap
City Pier additional deck space idea
Ocean Collective project update
Employer Survey to fill out (if you haven’t done so already)
Purple urchin removal/kelp restoration project update
Recording: Link
Zoom Info: https://ucsb.zoom.us/j/84939628090
Chris calls the meeting to order at 4:00PM upstairs in the harbor classroom.
Agenda:
Fishermen Survey Presentation - Claire Gonzalez
PhD student who interviewed about 20 fishermen
Sentiments were either improvement-seeking, neutral, resistant, or supportive
Themes were economic, environmental, participation-based, and resource-need
Sectors included aquaculture, offshore wind, oil & gas, and MPAs
Strong mismatch between support for oil & gas and offshore wind
Claire will send Ava a 1-pager to show in minutes
[email protected] is her email if anyone would like to reach out to her
Farmlink Presentation - Matt Hess
Matt Hess is a loan officer with CA Farmlink, also joined by Noah Strouse who helped co-found the organization
Their mission is to invest in the prosperity and well-being of farmers, ranchers, and fishers who have limited access to financial resources
501(c)3 nonprofit founded in 1999
In 2013, it became the first CDFI focused on sustainable ag
In 2022 they accepted responsibility for the CA fisheries fund
They offer courses that help educate farmers and fishermen such as “The Resilerator” which is their most popular course (more than 100 farmers, ranchers, and fishers); He wants to explore other options of scheduling that would better enable fishermen to be able to participate
They’ve deployed about $6M in CA fisheries funds loans from 2022-now; there's about $2.75M in the fund currently
Chris asks about marketing mitigation funds in the context of the lobster fishery and the current Chinese market collapse
Matt says technically marketing is something they offer financing for; they see it less frequently than tangible things but it is theoretically something they can do; Noah says they don’t offer a guide on a marketing plan but if you want to start a new direct to consumer market, infrastructure, equipment, that kind of thing, they do finance and they've done this for some fishermen and farmers already
Chris asks about the 7% rate and Matt says it’s that rate across the board but if the Carl Moyer program is what you use then it would be a 3.5% rate or a salmon disaster relief percentage; it’s case specific
Contact Matt directly if interested (831) 231-6157
Commercial fishing slip policy update - Harry Liquornik
CUDA dock update
No more CUDA dock, there’s no waiting list it’ll be a lottery
Mike Kenny asks why? And Gary asked who was involved in the negotiations?
Chris says Harry and Billy did the negotiations and Chris and Ava
Commercial fishing waitlist
Go to the Waterfront Dept and put your name on the lottery waitlist for a commercial slip if you’re
Transfer policy update - Chris Voss
Fees are now at $220/ft if under 35 for all commercial slips compared to $400
Mike Nelson says the problem in the past has been that the larger slips were paying more than the smaller slips in proportion (recreation only)
Mike asked how to create more commercial fishing slips from CFSB’s perspective
Chris says there’s something we’ve been working on with them about paying lower fees even if you’re in a recreational slip which had some support from a couple of the harbor commissioners
Jeff Hepp asks about his slip and Chris says he’s unsure but we’ll ask Jeanette and get back to him
Gary has concerns about where else they’ll get money from if they do give a break on these transfer fees
Financials - Michael Harrington
Michael goes over our Q3 financial report
Total liabilities and equity $189,825.94
Chris reminds the group that the board voted to put some funds in a Live Oak savings account that will accrue interest over time
Gary asks where the “admin fees” go
Michael says when admin funds are pulled from a grant (usually 10%), and they are only pulled from grants in general, it goes towards his time, as well as Kim and Ava’s
Chris mentions that he defers people to the website to donate when he is asked to engage with community members/groups so that CFSB is paid instead of him
Harry makes a motion to approve the CFSB Q3 financial reports
Chris seconds the motion, 6-0-0 unanimous approval
Harbor Festival this Saturday 10/18
Lobster/crab buying price determination, size limit of 1.25 lbs
Chris reminds everyone about the new model of pre-cooked, plated lobster versus how it’s been historically and thanks Joe and Melissa again for their willingness to do that method versus how it’s been done in the past
Chris has set a target at $5,000 for CFSB’s profit and Joe suggests a kickback type of plan where if we make over that threshold, fishermen potentially get paid more; Ava agrees and thinks all workers that day should also get paid more if we make more
Tony Luna speaks in defense of CFSB making a profit due to the fact that it hasn’t in the past
Ray makes a motion of CFSB buying lobster for $16/lb reserving the right to pay fishermen more after making $5K in profit; 250 lbs from Joe, Connor, and Ben, and anything leftover up to 800 lbs from Matt Liso, and then potentially open up to non-Saturday Market vendors after that
Jason seconds, unanimous approval 6-0-0 vote stands
It should be noted again that CFSB made a profit last year of only about $1,000 which was the first time the Association wasn’t in the red in nearly a decade, if not longer. CFSB is seeking to make a profit to be able to support the entire fleet’s needs and also to be able to pay staff a better rate. This is something that Chris has done on a volunteer basis for years; he is looking out for all of CFSB’s interests when he sets the threshold to $5K before offering fishermen a kickback.
300 lbs of crab (no more than 400), $4.50/lb is what we bought last year
Select males only at $4 per lb
Ray makes a motion to buy crab for $4 per lb as needed, Jason seconds, unanimous approval 6-0-0 vote stands
Dom confirmed he won’t be at the market so CFSB will buy from Matt Liso, Steve Escobar, and potentially one more crabber if needed
800 lbs of lobster (no more than 1000)
250 from Ben, Connor, and Joe, and if we need more Joe can sell 50
Chris makes a motion to buy 250 lbs from Joe, Connor, Ben, and then Matt, 6-0-0 unanimous approval
Ava mentions that she reached out to 2 of the other harbor festival vendors who don’t buy local seafood several times with no response or a response that was too late. She will continue to work with the waterfront department to hopefully have zero vendors in future years that import product for their booths; This has been requested in the past but somehow they always end up being there; Ava has done this months/weeks ahead of time, for multiple years now, with no success. The manager at the Yacht Club might be willing to come speak at a future board meeting to explain why their chef “couldn’t buy locally” this year, and in year’s past, and she is still waiting on confirmation if he can do that.
Fish and Game Commission October Meeting Recap
Widespread support for regional meetings regarding MPA petitions
Recent OPC Meeting Debrief
Implementing 30x30
Pychnopodia grant money
MPA connectivity
Bernard’s Kelp Project
SB Sea Ranch withdrew their application
Sea Cucumber Inquiry - Hannah Rempel PhD
Global Ghost Gear Initiative August Workshop Recap
Fishermen’s Safety Training August Recap
City Pier additional deck space idea
Chris explains the idea the Waterfront Dept has of expanding space between the travel dock and the pier by hoist 1
Gary has concerns about his boat fitting
There is general support and also the idea of the harbor community room (an underused space attached to the Maritime Museum) being repurposed as cold storage for fishermen came up; Miles suggests CFSB storing/selling bait which has been brought up in the past and is a good idea
We will communicate updates as soon as we hear more from the Waterfront Department on either topic
Ocean Collective project update
Employer Survey to fill out (if you haven’t done so already)
Purple urchin removal/kelp restoration project update
Other:
Harry brings up dredging
CFSB sent a letter of support to the Waterfront Department to help them secure grant funds, have not yet heard an update from them on that; Ava will follow up
Chris ends the meeting at 6:11PM upstairs in the harbor classroom.