Alan comes from a Cape Cod fishing family that dates back to whaling times. He grew up out on the water surfing, diving and sailing as often as possible. He move west to attend UC Santa Cruz, and upon graduating went to teach sailing on the Sea of Cortez with the National Outdoor Leadership School. There he witnessed illegal fishing practices by huge international trawlers. These damaging practices were not only bad for the environment, but he noticed the impact it had on the small coastal communities. Local fishermen were struggling to feed their families and make a living.
He returned to California to study Marine Policy and earned an Masters in International Environmental Policy at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. Drawn to fisheries as he saw a unique opportunity to reconnect our communities to our oceans as our last wild food source. He realized that the health of the environment is deeply tied to food production and what we eat.
He founded Real Good Fish (formerly Local Catch Monterey Bay in 2012) as a solution to reconnect our communities to the ocean and local fisheries. Alan has spent time working with The Nature Conservancy and Conservation International in Indonesia. He was a Sea Grant Fellow with The West Coast Governors Alliance for Ocean Health at NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center and Southwest Fisheries Science Center. In 2014, he won “Entrepreneur of the Year” in Monterey County sponsored by Union Bank and KSBW.