Morro Bay Women in Fishing

Morro Bay Women in Fishing. . , Women were critical to the success of sport and commercial fishing in Morro Bay in many ways. They shared fishing life as family, packers, sales, deckhands, captains and more. There are too many stories for this space, but the few repeated here show their many roles., Sport Fishing, Sharon Moores , Sharon Moores' dad Virg moved to Morro Bay in 1954 and founded Virg's Landing, where he introduced live bait to sport fishing. Sharon visited often during and after college, doing various tasks for the business. In 1974 she returned to Morro Bay to purchase the tackle shop and eventually took over the entire business., Three Generations on the Water, Rita Gartrell , Rita Gartrell was working as a waitress in Cambria when Virg Moores offered her a job on Lot-a-Fun. Rita was a dare devil who enjoyed scuba diving and flying airplanes so it wasn't surprising for her to choose fishing. Rita got her Captain's license in 1979 and ran boats for Virg's Landing and others for many years., Sharon Rowley , Sharon Rowley, Rita's daughter, followed her mom to sea. She met her husband while hanging out on the docks at San Simeon and ended up working as a deckhand and mended nets. Sharon switched from commercial fishing to working on sport fishing boats and got her Captain's license in 1994., Michele Leary , Michele Leary, Sharon's daughter, was absorbing fishing as a kid while her mom mended gill nets. She was only 28 when she earned her own Captain's license. She named her boat after her grandmother, the Rita G., Abalone Diving, Diane Schoditsch , Abalone was abundant around Morro Bay in the 1950's but the industry declined in the 1970's from sea otters and fishing pressure. One local woman, Diane Schoditsch, left nursing school to become a fisher woman and diver. In the 70s she used hookah gear, a lightweight form of diving gear that she could take down to 120 feet., Fishing Couples, Trudy O'Brien and Jeremiah O'Brien , Trudy O'Brien, standing just over five feet tall, started her 17-year fishing career packing fish at the Gold Nugget. Trudy got hooked on fishing as a deckhand on the Tom Cat. She met her husband, Jeremiah, while fishing and they fished together aboard the Aguero for years. , Sheri Hafer and Tom Hafer , The Hafers married in 1986 in San Diego, and Tom fished out of various ports until arriving in Morro Bay in 1992. In 1997 they bought the Kathryn H. The Hafers have both been prominent in the public affairs of the fishing community., Central Coast Women for Fisheries , The perfect name of the CCWF website is https://womenforfish.org. The organization is led by women to support the fishing families of the Central Coast. Their story is told by the statue they placed near the mouth of the harbor dedicated to "Those Who Wait.", (aside:), Explore the Hidden History of Morro Bay, The Hidden History Project tells stories of Morro Bay's past, often revealing truths that are right in front of our eyes if we only knew what to look for., Commercial fishing and sport fishing were the lifeblood of Morro Bay for decades, along with tourism. Many families who worked and still work in fishing live in Morro Bay as a link to our past., Discover additional interpretive panels with descriptive Hidden Histories at various locations around Morro Bay. The QR code takes to a webpage that lists the stories.