As Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust turns 10, local seafood is increasingly catching on.

For generations, Monterey Bay’s identity was inseparable from fishing. It was a backbone of the local economy, particularly in the City of Monterey, where it inspired one of John Steinbeck’s most famous novels, Cannery Row. But fishing practices were often unsustainable, and sardine and abalone populations plummeted.

Today, there are no canneries on Cannery Row, no fishermen at Fisherman’s Wharf. So in many ways, Monterey’s identity as a fishing community has become little more than a facade, a brand to attract tourists to districts lined with candy shops and restaurants.

Local fishermen, in turn, are far fewer than in the industry’s heyday, and those still hanging on are increasingly faced with unpredictable closures as regulators strive to protect marine life. Climate change has also played a role, as droughts have impacted salmon runs up creeks and warmer waters off the coast have created algal blooms that can lead to a buildup of toxic domoic acid in the flesh of shellfish, which then become unsafe for humans to eat.

So what can be done?

Enter Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust, a nonprofit formed in 2014 with the goal of ensuring the region maintains a viable and sustainable fishing industry, and to find ways to help bring local fish to local consumers.

And what exactly that looks like has taken many forms: Initially, The Nature Conservancy divested more $1 million of its fishing rights for groundfish and gave them to MBFT. The trust then bought up more groundfish fishing rights from local fishermen – quotas, a finite regulatory commodity – to lease to local fishermen to prevent them from being snagged by bigger fishery operations in Washington state.

At the time, many local fishermen were in dire financial straits after groundfish populations on the West Coast reached record lows in the late ’90s, which led to the federal government to declare the fishery a disaster.

Melissa Mahoney, who came on as MBFT’s executive director in 2022 after years with The Nature Conservancy, says the trust was able to keep all the locally owned quotas local, with the exception of one Moss Landing fisherman who had already sold.

Much of what the nonprofit focuses on today is advocacy, and being a one-stop shop to keep local fishermen informed about potential new regulations. This past June, Mahoney offered strident testimony to the Pacific Fishery Management Council, asking them not to close two regions in Monterey Bay near Santa Cruz to bottom-contact fishing gear, as they are vital to many local fishermen (the closure was proposed to protect corals as a mitigation for damaged corals off Half Moon Bay). The council voted 7-6 to keep those two spots open.

MBFT has also been ensuring local seafood can reach local people: the nonprofit organizes “Get Hooked” dinners at local restaurants nearly every month, in which local seafood is on the menu.

“In the same way you love your local farmer, you’ve got to love your local fisherman,” Mahoney says. “In big picture terms, it’s really about continuing to grow, building the local seafood movement, and really doubling down and strengthening local seafood businesses.”

Many restaurants in Monterey County feature seafood pulled from the bay. When dungeness crab season opened, for instance, Paluca Trattoria on Fisherman’s Wharf served crab that had been hauled in only minutes before.

Margaret Spring, chief conservation and science officer at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, is one of MBFT’s founding board members. She says the trust’s goal is that it will one day no longer be needed if the trust “sets the table” by revitalizing the connections that make a vibrant fishing community.

“[Local] seafood supports people and their jobs, it’s an economic driver, and it supports tourism,” she says.

It is on this footing that MBFT is celebrating its 10th anniversary at the Memory Garden in Monterey on Sept. 29. The event will feature chefs serving local seafood; there will also be local beer and wine, live music and more.

“It’s nice to have a story not about decline,” Spring says, “but about recovery.”

Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust 10-year anniversary celebration takes place 4-7pm Sunday, Sept. 29. $125. 233-3101, montereybayfisheriestrust.org