The Pennisi family has a long tradition of fishing and has been trawling in the waters off of California for sustainably caught seafood since the early 1900s.
Giuseppe “Joe” Pennisi started fishing in California when he was seven years old. Beginning his career working on his father’s boats, he has made a career fishing everywhere from Monterey to the Bering Sea. In 2000 he purchased his boat the Pioneer and launched Pioneer Seafoods.

Find Out When We Are Going Fishing!
And More Importantly – When We Are Coming Back in Loaded With Fish!
We Have Moved to the Port of Redwood City!
We have moved our docking location to a beautiful facility at the Port of Redwood City, 459 Seaport Court, F Dock! There is plenty of parking, and we have the yellow food truck where we sell fish and also fish tacos and more. Check the Calendar page to see when we will be open.
Trawl Innovations
Pioneer Seafoods has partnered with the Environmental Defense Fund to modify and enhance our trawling gear. This is has culminated in the development of Pioneer’s “light touch” trawl gear. By modifying the weight and size of our nets, this trawl gear barely touches the seafloor. We estimate that these modifications reduce bottom contact by about 95 percent. Sustainably Caught Seafood is essential to preserving Earth’s ocean ecosystems.
Nothing Beats the Taste of a TRULY FRESH fish! Click Here To See Our Calendar.
Get all the Latest News & Events Right Here
See the story on Channel 7 News about Pioneer Selling Fish off the Boat
FEATURED ARTICLES
“Big Blue Live, Episode 2“
Aired on PBS, September 1, 2015. (Fast forward to 45:54 for the segment on Monterey’s commercial fisheries and Giuseppe’s innovative trawl gear).
“Gear Workshop Highlights Innovators in West Coast Fishery”
By Shems Jud. EDFish Blog.
“The West Coast Groundfish Recovery: The Best Fish News You Haven’t Heard Yet”
By Maria Finn. Civil Eats.
“Monterey Bay Fisherman Experiments with Nets”
By Erin E. Ross. The Californian.