Ambassadors 2021

Siasau “Saui” Matagiese

“This ocean has fed me and my family through my whole life in great times and in struggling times. … It’s is my duty and responsibility to insure that future generations have the ability to do so as well and protect our resources by creating a much more sustainable fishery that involves fishing responsibly and the promotion of properly ran fish farms.”

Originally from Kauaʻi, where he spent most of his childhood playing sports and fishing, Saui says he learned how to swim before he learned how to walk. Fishing has been in his family for generations. Saui is an avid spear fisher who graduated from the University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa with a bachelors in family resource management. He now works for the state of Hawaiʻi as a juvenile counselor in the judiciary branch and moonlights as a fish sommelier at Mina’s Fish House at the Four Seasons resort and Spa on Oʻahu, where his job is to educate guest about the different types of fish the restaurant serves and to represent local fishermen of Hawaiʻi. Saui shares the challenges that Hawaiʻi’s fishermen face, while expressing his cultural connection and love for the ocean. He is a firm believer in creating a fully sustainable fishery in Hawaiʻi rooted in the lost system of fish ponds and sea faring invented by his ancestors.

Shera Mercer - Alohi Kai Jewelry

“The ocean teaches us not just about human limitations and coexisting with wildlife, but also companionship and connections between diverse people. With love of the ocean in common, people with oppositional philosophies come together because people protect what they love. “

Shera Mercer is an ocean-obsessed designer, maker & underwater photographer based in Hawaii. After a few masters degrees and a career in consulting she found herself in corporate life working across Europe, the Middle East, Japan, Mexico and the U.S., but pining for the Pacific Ocean. After making the decision to hang up her business suits for wetsuits, she moved back home to Hawaiʻi where she started 'Alohi Kai Jewelry and dives every week with her husband Joe.

Diving and photographing wildlife around the world were her constant companions while traveling. Taking these experiences into ‘Alohi Kai, she hopes to contribute to raising awareness about ocean sustainability and conservation.

Check out the awesome ta’ape pins Shera created!

Jessica “Jess” Rohr - Forage HI

“Ocean conservation is important to me because I have seen the losses in our underwater ecosystems as well as our fisheries, just in my short lifetime. I can only hope that we can improve the current situation so that my son can still enjoy these cherished resources.”

Jessica Rohr has an endless curiosity of all things food related. She studied nutrition and business at University of Hawaii and opened up Forage Hawaii in 2016 after spending 5 years working in the fishing industry on charter and commercial fishing boats. Her business Forage Hawaii sells local meat and seafood sourced with the highest standards in the industry.

Yuda Abitbol

"Humans play an integral role in maintaining our natural resources."

Yuda is a private chef with a background cooking in some of Honolulu’s finest restaurants. A career as a private chef gives him the freedom and time to forage almost every ingredient he uses from spices to oils. Yuda forages and processes 90% of his ingredients and uses local farm fresh for the other 10%. His cooking focuses heavily on the use of invasive animal and plant species.