2021 Board Of Directors

Lenore was born and raised in MN, about as far from the ocean as you can get.  She moved to the Central Coast however in 1991.  She eventually met and married Bill Ward who is a native of the area and has fished out of Avila since 1968.  Bill has 2 now grown children and his son has followed in his footsteps and is also a fisherman out of Avila.  

Lenore is an occupational therapist, who is recently retired.  She has been involved with CCWF since the organization began.  Lenore says through this group she has a better understanding of the fishing family lifestyle and has appreciated the camaraderie of the other women.

Sheri is from a 3rd generation Hemet, California family. She went to Cal State Long Beach and received a BS in Physical Therapy in 1984. She then moved to San Diego and worked for the Veteran’s Administration Hospital for 8 years. That is where she met her husband Tom Hafer when his father had a stroke and was in the VA. She and Tom then moved up to the Central Coast in 1992 and have a home in Atascadero. She has worked at Twin Cities Community Hospital for 27 years and has just recently retired last year. She and Tom have 3 children Lucas (30), Katie (26), and Ben(22). They own the f/v Kathryn H and fish their live nearshore and spot prawn permits. She has been actively involved in the Fishing Community and fish politics since marrying Tom in 1986, especially since he became President of the MBCFO about 10 years ago. She has been the Secretary for CCWF for about 5 years now. 

I grew up in Dana Point where ocean was a way of life. I went sport fishing with my father and hooked my first bluefin tuna and yellowtail at age 10. After graduating from SDSU, I decided to work on a charter boat for a couple of years, F/V Fisherman doing daily trips to San Clemente island. I met my husband at Dana Wharf and married in 1975. Richard was a boat carpenter and fisherman (sport and commercial), working part time at Dana Wharf for nearly 40 years til his death.

I was one of the Charter members of the Dana Wharf Lady Anglers. 12 women, who loved to sport fish, started this club and to this day are still going strong 40+ years later. In 1976 we bought our first commercial boat, f/v Smokit. A 30’ Seaway. We fished Albacore up and down the coast. We also fished rock cod off the Channel Islands. In 1979, we bought an old 74’ halibut schooner, f/v Doric and continued to fish albacore from Mexico to Canada. 

in 1980, our first child was born, Tyler and we decided that we needed to get into a fishery that was fairly colose to home in case of emergencies. We put Tyler on the boat when he was 3 months old. We got into the Drift Gillnet fisheries for shark and swordfish. One of our best sets was on a night of an eclipse off of Catalina island. 

As Tyler got older, it was time for me to get off the boat. I took over the management of the family bar/restaurant in San Juan Capistrano, the Swallow’s Inn. It was and still is the best little Honky Tonk. The “Palace” in the movie “Heart Break Ridge” with Clint Eastwood was filmed there. My son Jesse was born 3 days after Warner Brother left the building in May 1986. 

We began fishing California spiny lobster in the mid 80s until my husbands death in 2009. Richard developed Acute myeloid leukemia. He died 16 days later. Tyler and Jesse decided they wanted to continue fishing. They are 4th generation fisherman. In 2011, I travelled to New York with Tyler and Jesse and purchased a 40’ Young Brothers f/v Pacific Spirit. We put it on a semi and it reached Dana Point 4 days later. Tears were in my eyes when I saw it come around the corner thinking about how Richard would have loved it. We also bought a Spot prawn permit with gear and now fish prawns around the Channel Islands. 

46 years later, I can say life connected to the ocean has been an experience that I would not change for anything.

Sharon joined Central Coast Women for Fisheries in 2005 and assists with the Fishing Heritage

Scholarship Program and the Pelorus, which is the quarterly newsletter. Sharon mostly grew up on California’s central coast in the small towns of Cambria and Harmony. She was inspired into the local jobs in the fishing industry because of her mother being involved in the charter fishing business and her husband, John Rowley, a commercial fisherman whom she met at the age of 20 in 1970. John and Sharon have worked their entire adult live in various fishing jobs until retiring in 2016. Sharon’s start was filleting fish on the San Simeon pier for Virg’s Landing, then as a deckhand on sport fishing boats based in Morro Bay. She also decked when needed for her husband when he had a trawler for a few years, mostly fishing for pink shrimp. Sharon also worked filleting fish in the companies that processed

fish the commercial boats unloaded, which at the time was tons that kept 30+ fish filleters busy full time in Morro Bay. She also worked on fishing nets for several years, a job she could do at home when their kids were little. In 1994 Sharon earned a 100 ton Coast Guard license in order to operate passenger vessels. Her main job for the next 21 years was taking anglers out fishing at Virg’s Landing in Morro Bay. Life was always busy with jobs, but she says the best job was raising their 2 children.

Becka Kelly is the newest member to the Board of the Central Coast Women for Fisheries. She grew up in Morro Bay and joined the Morro Bay Harbor Department in 2000 after a 6 year stint working on different boats as a marine biologist and commercial fishing in Morro Bay, Santa Cruz, Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico and Australia. She worked her way up the ladder from Reserve Harbor Patrol Officer and Junior Lifeguard Coordinator to her present position of Harbor Patrol Supervisor. Becka’s love of the ocean, outdoors and helping people in the community she grew up in, makes this the perfect place to live and work. She is also lucky to work alongside her husband, Mike, a Paramedic Engineer for Morro Bay Fire and while raising their 2 children in this beautiful area. Becka, Mike and their kids are all avid surfers and love to take their 27’ Radon to sport fish and explore the coastline.