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SPEAKERS
Hear from these industry leaders on February 29, 2024.
Kwasi Addae
Washington State Dept. of Fish and Wildlife
Kwasi Addae is a commercial fisheries biologist within the Intergovernmental Salmon Management Unit at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). In his role, he coordinates the Puget Sound Commercial Salmon Monitoring Program (a fishery observer program), manages commercial salmon fisheries, serves as a lead research vessel captain, and works closely with tribal co-managers during the annual North of Falcon process. He is passionate about understanding the human aspect of commercial fisheries and how commercial fisheries “fit” into an ever-changing environmental landscape.
Kwasi is from Seattle, WA and attended The Evergreen State College where he received his BS in zoology/evolutionary ecology, and his master’s degree in environmental studies. His graduate work examined Washington’s use of Marine Protected Areas and their effect on groundfish biodiversity. Prior to coming to WDFW, Kwasi worked in the local maritime industry obtaining several licenses and credentials. He now trains vessel operations to other agency staff.
Outside of work, Kwasi focuses on spending time with his niece and nephew, birding, sailing, being a homebody with his dog and family, and connecting with his local maritime community.
Nicole Baker
Net Your Problem
Nicole Baker is a former North Pacific groundfish fisheries observer (2010-2015) and the founder of Net Your Problem LLC. Net Your Problem collects waste from the maritime industry and sends it to recyclers who turn it into the raw material needed to manufacture plastic products. Net Your Problem has been actively establishing programs to dispose of waste in remote fishing communities since 2017 and currently operates in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Maine and Massachusetts. Projects are in development for other ports on all the US coasts. More than 1.8 million pounds of netting and line have been recycled so far, from individual vessels and by partnering with native tribes and community groups.
Nicole has given presentations for many different audiences, including at industry meetings, inter-governmental meetings (the Arctic Council), for waste management practitioners, to entire communities and to other entrepreneurs. She has done more than 30 interviews, both in print, podcast, Instagram TV and live radio to talk about her work, and has been mentioned in articles by Forbes, Geekwire, National Fishermen and Fishermens News. In April 2020, Net Your Problem completed a Maritime Accelerator program, and pitched to a virtual audience of 250 maritime professionals and investors. In 2021, Net Your Problem was selected to participate in the Alliance to End Plastic Waste Accelerator Program. Nicole received the Alaska Sea Life Center Ocean Leadership award for Sustainability in 2021.
Molly Bold
Westport Marina, Port of Grays Harbor
Molly Bold is the Westport Marina general manager for the Port of Grays Harbor. Molly is responsible for the Westport Marina and upland industrial tenants, which serves as a regional seafood hub and tourism destination. Dedicated to ensuring a bright future for the Westport Marina and tenants, she is an advocate for Washington’s commercial fishing industry and coastal working waterfronts. Bold helped develop the Westport Fresh Catch Project, helped found Washington Seafood Day at the State Capital, and serves on the Grays Harbor Marine Resource Committee. She and her husband Ryan, a long-time commercial fisherman, are busy raising their 4 kids– Fritz, Betsy, Duke and Ben on and off the boat!
Chef Matthew Boudousquie
Bistro at Shuksan
Spending his early life in Louisiana, Matthew’s love for his grandmother’s cooking gave birth to his love of food. His introduction to the kitchen as maw-maw’s sous chef when his grandmother lost her leg, led to 25 years in professional kitchens where Matthew has honed his expertise in Cajun and Creole cuisine, and expanded his repertoire to include other cuisines as well. Chef Boudousquie’s guiding principle is the ingredients and how the purity of ingredients enhances the ultimate product. “Don't get me wrong I get bread and mayonnaise flown in from New Orleans, yet I buy fish direct from the fishermen.”
Awarded Best Chef in 2023 by Bellingham Alive Magazine, Chef Boudousquie is currently executive chef at the Bistro at Shuksan in Bellingham where he has crafted a menu with roots in the Cajun cuisine on which he was raised, and the branches embracing the wholesome ingredients he has discovered in the Pacific Northwest.
Bobby Briscoe, Commissioner
Port of Bellingham
Bobby Briscoe is a fourth-generation fisherman who was born and raised in Bellingham. He is a life-long independent businessman who has operated commercial fishing vessels for more than 40 years out of Squalicum Harbor and has worked in ports from California to Alaska. Bobby Briscoe has served as president of the Puget Sound Crab Fisherman Association.
Commissioner Briscoe and his wife Carol live in Blaine and are the parents of two grown sons and the grandparents of four boys.
Cari Chan
Bellingham Dockside Market
Growing up in Eagle River, Alaska meant Cari Chan was surrounded by fish and fishing from her earliest days. When her family moved to Bellingham, WA when she was in 3rd grade, her father traded his career as a chemist for that of a full-time commercial fisherman. Growing up in a fishing family normalized the experience of long absences from home, stinky laundry, crazy hours, and feast-or-famine income for Cari. This would come in handy later in life when Cari’s husband decided to join her father as a commercial crabber.
Cari studied psychology and human services at Trinity Western University and got a TESL certificate to teach English as a second language. Cari taught in Mexico, Thailand, Korea, and Canada before moving back to her hometown of Bellingham with her husband, Ficus, and their two daughters. When Bellingham Dockside Market was formed in 2020, Cari helped Ficus sell crab through his business, Crab Bellingham, and soon after was hired as the market coordinator. As the Dockside Market coordinator, Cari’s favorite part is seeing the success of the fishermen selling their catch and the joy of customers who are eager for direct access to local seafood.
Ann Colonna
Food Innovation Center, Oregon State University
Ann Colonna received her BS degree in biochemistry in 1997 from the University of Arizona and followed that with a culinary diploma from the Culinary School of the Rockies in Boulder, Colorado and Provence, France. She continued her education at the University of California, Davis where she earned an MS degree in sensory food science.
Ann is currently in her 23rd year at the Food Innovation Center in Portland, Oregon, an off-campus Oregon State University Experiment Station, where she serves as the Sensory Program director. She assists industry clients with sensory and consumer testing and collaborates in mission-oriented research designed to advance Northwest agriculture and food products. Recent work includes: conducting shelf-life assessments over two years of three frozen seafood species in home and commercial freezers; assessing acceptability of fresh vs. frozen Black cod, coho salmon, sockeye salmon, scallops and albacore tuna; exploring the marketability of dulse seaweed; cross cultural acceptance and food neophobia studies of barley tea and kombucha in the US, Korea and Spain; defining market acceptance of US grown tea in Japan, Taiwan and Korea; investigating motivations for meat consumption relating to sustainability, environmental considerations, and demographics; consumer testing of novel edible film packaging; consumer assessment of Oregon grown olive oil vs. foreign imports; evaluating consumer acceptability of new Northwest pear, blueberry and strawberry varietals, among others.
Raquel Crosier
Washington State Dept. of Fish and Wildlife
Raquel is a project manager in the Fish Program at the Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). She has spent much of her career in the environmental policy arena working at the Washington State Legislature, The Northwest Power and Conservation Council and the Recreation and Conservation Office before joining WDFW. Raquel’s work at WDFW is diverse and includes funding strategy development, mobile harvest reporting and sustainable seafood communications.
Raquel lives in the Skagit Valley and holds a master’s degree in conservation biology from the University of New South Wales.
Dr. Carolynn Culver, PhD
California Sea Grant
As a California Sea Grant Extension specialist and University of California research scientist, Dr. Culver facilitates and conducts research, outreach, and education to help California communities identify and address needs regarding coastal and marine issues, particularly those related to marine fisheries and shellfish mariculture. Dr. Culver has led several needs assessments which have highlighted many of the challenges fishing communities face. To help address the needs identified, she has collaborated with diverse groups and conducted a range of projects from infrastructure assessments for maintaining working waterfronts, to biological studies for new products/species, to developing and providing resources for evaluating and starting seafood alternative marketing arrangements while considering seafood quality and safety.
Michael Domeyer
Tre-Fin Foods
Mike is the CEO of Tre-Fin, which he founded in 2009. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and is an international wide body captain for FedEx Express. He is also a captain on the F/V Opportunaty, Tre-Fin Marine’s first boat. Mike began commercial fishing in 2008 through his involvement with offshore tournament fishing and recognition of growth potential in the Pacific Northwest with an absence of consistently available seafood. The company soon found its way to the inception of this unique commercial fishing and processing operation providing high quality seafood in a different way; a way that keeps the fishers connected to the stewardship of our fish.
Jamie Doyle
Oregon Sea Grant
Jamie Doyle has been with Oregon Sea Grant Extension with Oregon State University since 2008. In that time, she has worked on a wide range of topics, including: fisheries and seafood education, planning a coastal conference (State of the Coast), implementing coastal ecoregion master naturalist courses, researching the seafood processor workforce, researching and responding to the impacts of COVID-19 on Oregon’s fishing industry, research and outreach on frozen seafood quality, alternative seafood marketing, and working waterfronts. Jamie has a bachelor of arts degree in biology with a concentration in marine science from Boston University and a master’s degree in marine affairs with a certificate of international development, policy, and management from the University of Washington.
Amy Grondin
Duna Fisheries, LLC
Amy Grondin is a commercial salmon fisherman and fishes off the coast of Washington and Southeast Alaska. When not on the water, she works as a commercial fishing outreach specialist and sustainable food systems consultant. Amy is on the board of Organic Seed Alliance as well as being a member of Les Dames d’Escoffier and the Local Catch Network. She advocates for sustainable local and regional food systems and has great concern for the sustainability of ocean resources. Port Townsend, WA is her homeport.
Chef Shubert Ho
Feedme Hospitality & Restaurant Group
Shubert Ho is co-founder and CEO of Feedme Hospitality & Restaurant Group, a collection of locally-loved, independent dining destinations and catering. Established in 2008 with Shooby Doo Catering, Shubert and his partners went on to open one brick-and-mortar restaurant every two years. Their establishments include Bar Dojo, Salt & Iron, MARKET Edmonds & Seattle, SanKai, Fire & The Feast, Shore Pine Coffee & Gelato, and they are exclusive partners with the Edmonds Waterfront Center and Seattle Art Museum properties. With over 500 employees today, Feedme Hospitality offers high-quality food and beverages while creating focused community campaigns supporting great causes. More information is available at www.feedmehrg.com.
Chef Brock Johnson
TD & Co.
Brock was originally hired by Tom Douglas Restaurants at Lola in 2005. Since then, he’s held multiple positions with TD and Co, including chef at the Dahlia Lounge. Currently, Brock works as the restaurant division director, supporting front and back operations for a variety of restaurant concepts.
Brock graduated from Western Washington University with a degree in English but worked his way through school by cooking the whole time, and his path never strayed far from the kitchen. In his current role with TD and Co, his focus is on warm, genuine service, and vibrant, seasonal cooking.
A “homegrown” chef hailing from Edmonds, Washington, Brock lives in Shoreline with his wife, Amy, and two soccer obsessed children—daughter Finley, 11, and son Beckham, 8.
Buck Jones
Columbia River Inter Tribal Fish Commission
Buck Jones is an enrolled Cayuse Tribal member, one of the bands of Confederated Tribes of The Umatilla Indian Reservation. (CTUIR)
Buck’s education includes attending College of Southern Idaho in general studies, and Scottsdale Community College with a focus on Native American Treaty Law and Policy.
He is a multi-decade Columbia River Treaty fisherman who has done various duties including harvesting, processing, and marketing of tribally caught salmon.
From 1997 through 2000 Buck was employed at Ain Dah Yung in St Paul, MN, an emergency shelter for runaway and homeless American Indian Youth.
Since 2004 Buck has worked for Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (CRITFC). First with the operation and maintenance staff of the In-lieu and Treaty Fishing Access Sites, maintaining 31 Treaty Fishing Access and In-lieu sites on the Columbia River. In 2011 he served in the fish science department as a fisheries technician. In September of 2015 Buck started his current position of salmon marketing specialist. This position has allowed him to work on product development, markets, and to provide classes on cold water and boat safety. He also provides classes about quality handling for approximately 700 Tribal Treaty fisherman.
Buck is also involved in national and regional Tribal Food Sovereignty Groups including being a co-chair of the Food Sovereignty committee for Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians.
He is a board member of Gorge Grown Food Network, Mid-Columbia Economic Development District, Columbia Gorge Tourism Alliance and One Community Health, and is also on the Executive Committee of the Local Catch Network.
Jenna Keeton
Washington Sea Grant
Jenna works to address the needs of Washington’s fisheries-dependent communities through targeted outreach and collaborative research. At Washington Sea Grant (WSG) Jenna’s overarching motivation is to strengthen networks among sustainable commercial fisheries, the seafood industry and consumers. Specifically, she strives to 1) support commercial fishers in developing economic resiliency, 2) coordinate career development workshops to encourage the next generation of the commercial fishing fleet, and 3) lead community-based needs assessments to appreciate local needs and concerns related to the fishing and seafood industries.
Prior to joining WSG in 2021, Jenna studied and worked throughout the Pacific Northwest, Alaska and the Intermountain West. She began her career in fisheries as an undergraduate with the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences at the University of Washington. Here, she also studied with the Alaska Salmon Program in Bristol Bay, Alaska. Jenna expanded her foundational knowledge of commercial and tribal fisheries management at NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center, where she monitored salmon populations in the Columbia River headwaters. Jenna earned her master’s degree in aquatic ecology from Utah State University studying aquatic invasive species management. Most recently, she worked with the agriculture industry in central Oregon to develop and implement sustainable water conservation practices. Jenna has always held fisheries close to her heart and she joined the commercial fleet in 2021 as a deckhand in the Bristol Bay sockeye salmon fishery.
Jenna pays close attention to socioeconomic characteristics of Washington’s fisheries because she believes they can help tell a story about the complex interactions between sustainable fisheries and the communities who depend upon them.
Chelsea Keutmann
Sea to Shore Seafood
Chelsea began her fishing career at the tender age of three days old. A fourth-generation fisherman (and third-generation female fisherman) from Petersburg, Alaska, Chelsea literally grew up on a fishing boat. At 18 years old, Chelsea worked her way to captaining her own vessel and started Sea to Shore Seafood – now a multi-faceted direct marketing business & distribution company, expanded to include the catch of like-minded fleetmates. As she has diversified Sea to Shore’s offerings’ reach, Chelsea has stayed true to her original mission: honoring the hard work of commercial fishermen and women, connecting seafood-loving consumers with truly traceable, sustainable quality wild seafood.
Josh Mims
Crescent City Commercial Fishermen’s Association
Josh Mims is a seasoned professional with more than two decades of experience in the fishing industry. Serving as the project manager for the Sea to Market Project, he plays a crucial role in efforts to enhance the fishing industry and provide support to local fishermen.
Josh’s journey in the field began on fishing vessels, where he gained firsthand knowledge of the industry’s intricacies. His hands-on experience provided him with a deep understanding of the challenges small-scale fishermen face, from catching fish to managing the complex supply chain.
One of Josh’s significant contributions has been his dedication to streamlining the supply chain. Recognizing the importance of delivering fresh seafood to consumers and boosting revenue for local fishermen by minimizing intermediaries, he actively works towards this goal, which also promotes the growth of local economies.
As project manager, Josh brings his wealth of experience and commitment to advancing sustainable fishing practices. He is dedicated to shaping a more promising future for fishing communities in Del Norte County.
With Josh leading the Sea to Market Project, there is confidence in the mission to support local fishermen and promote sustainability in the industry. His work reflects his passion for preserving the ocean’s resources for future generations.
Brandii O’Reagan
Washington Sea Grant
Over the last 30 years Brandii O’Reagan has worked in seafood processing and fishing, as well as political, regulatory, and educational aspects of commercial seafood. She is driven by opportunities to share knowledge and innovation.
Brandii believes that one of the most important aspects of improving seafood harvest quality and sustainability is to create educational opportunities. She has fished on drift, setnet, jig and longline fisheries in Alaska and worked on a tender for herring and salmon. She has taught quality processing and handling, direct marketing and food safety workshops online and in person.
Brandii has also spoken at industry events and worked one-on-one with fishermen to guide them through independent marketing and processing. She’s taught classes to fishermen in a classroom and on their vessel to increase the awareness of quality handling measures and wrote a technical column for Fishermen News. She has traveled and spoken with processors and fisher groups about quality handling methodologies and emerging technologies in China, Vietnam, Canada, Alaska, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Washington and Oregon. Brandii was elected to a Borough Assembly seat while living in Alaska, served on the Economic Development District Board of Directors, the Oregon Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia task force and currently serves as chair of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute technical committee.
Don Pease
NOAA Financial Services Division
Don is 15 years into his loan officer role with NOAA Fisheries/NMFS providing term financing to the commercial fishing industry. Don has come full circle in the capacity of fisheries financing having worked for Production Credit Association (PCA) for 13 years in the late 70s through the 80s where he was involved in the construction and term financing of numerous crab, seine, and gillnet vessels.
Following PCA, Don spent 9 years as the shore-based general manager of the 182’ crab catcher/processor Pro Surveyor. After being initially involved in the vessel’s shipyard conversion process, the follow-up responsibilities were providing the logistical support for the operation of the vessel and sale of the finished product to domestic and Japanese markets.
While employed with Pro Surveyor, the first ever US government issued permit to fish crab in Antarctica was secured. Based out of Punta Arenas, Chile, the Pro Surveyor successfully found crab, however, the marketing challenges of two new crab species and the lack of sufficient volume of product did not prove the fishery to be financially viable.
Don has a BA in economics from Washington State University and has been employed in the fishing industry for more than 30 years.
Peter Philips
Colibri Northwest
Peter and his team work with transit agencies, municipal administrators, elected officials and associations to develop policy, communicate policy to stakeholders and successfully implement public policy in the field.
Areas of expertise include marine transportation and marine transit, commercial fishing, industrial and urban land use.
Peter has 35 years of experience in industrial and marine lands policy development, and advocacy for the maritime and commercial fishing industries, including conference production and print publishing.
From 1999-2020 Peter was president of Philips Publishing Group and publisher of Fishermen’s News, Foghorn and Pacific Maritime Magazine, monthly magazines for the commercial fishing, marine transit, and maritime transportation industries.
Today Peter owns and operates Colibri Northwest serving private and municipal clients and associations from offices in Des Moines, WA.
Rob Seitz
F/V South Bay
Rob Seitz is the owner/operator of F/V South Bay, working out of Astoria, Oregon. He fishes for Oregon pink shrimp in the summer and Dungeness crab in the winter. When he isn’t fishing he can usually be found washing dishes at his wife’s restaurant, South Bay’s Wild Fish House.
Chef Victor Steinbrueck
Local Tide
Victor Steinbrueck is a self-taught chef and a lifelong Seattleite, with deep ties to Seattle. Victor started Local Tide in 2017, doing pop-ups in the historical Pike Place Market. This pop-up led to Victor opening his first restaurant, Local Tide, in 2020. Since then, Local Tide has been named a Top 100 Restaurant in the Seattle Met, referenced as Seattle’s Best New Seafood Restaurant in the Seattle Times, and called out as one of the Top 25 Restaurants in Seattle by the New York Times. Local Tide is focused on building a diverse community and team, while serving locally sourced seafood in a casual and approachable way. This is the ethos and core that Victor exemplifies, seen in the food, ambiance, and the hospitality that is put forth by Steinbrueck and team.