H&M Landing has announced that Frank Ursitti is the new managing partner of United Sportfishers/H&M Landing in Point Loma. Ursitti will be handling the day-to-day operations of the West Coast’s largest and most diversified sportfishing fleet.
When Phil Lobred decided to retire his position of managing partner, which he had held for 36 years, he chose Ursitti as his successor. “I knew he had the experience, insight, temperament and entrepreneurial spirit to take the business forward,” said Lobred.
“Looking ahead, I am very proud of the fleet we have assembled here at H&M,” said Ursitti. “Many of the boat owners and captains have decades of experience providing successful sportfishing as well as eco-tourism adventures.”
“I followed my passion, and it paved the way for my success,” said Ursitti, 53. He has been working in the sportfishing industry since he was a teenager. In the summer of 1977, he began working on sportfishing boats from Channel Islands Harbor and continued to work as a crewman on boats from the CISCO fleet until earning his masters license in 1981, becoming the youngest licensed master at the time.
He then began operating boats for Channel Islands Sportfishing until February of 1990, when he purchased his first charter boat, the “Coral Sea,” and began spending five months each summer season fishing out of H&M Landing with the balance of the year from Channel Islands Sportfishing in Oxnard.
Ursitti has worked to improve and expand his own passenger boat business. In 1999, he purchased the first boat he ever worked on, the “Ranger 85,” to expand and diversify his charter business and his business portfolio to include whale watching and eco-tourism adventures in the waters throughout the Channel Islands National Park and Marine Sanctuary.
In 2000, Ursitti formed Channel Islands Whale Watching, offering whale watching and wildlife cruises into the waters surrounding Channel Islands National Park and National Marine Sanctuary. In September of 2014, he purchased the vessel “Constitution” to further enhance his ability to offer whale-watching tours through the Channel Islands. In addition, both the “Constitution” and the “Ranger” have extended range to offer longer fishing trips throughout the Channel Islands and down the Baja California peninsula.
In 1997, Ursitti founded Channel Islands Marine Floating Lab, a tactile marine-science field-trip opportunity for students. This program fosters stewardships of the world’s ocean and provides an in-depth look at the diversity of life in the ocean, from its very basic forms all the way up the food chain to the largest animals on the planet.
In San Diego, Ursitti will offer a school field-trip opportunity with H&M’s whale-watching program that features a pre- and post-trip curriculum meeting common core state standards.
“Our field-trip opportunity promotes stewardship of the marine environment and allows students a firsthand look at marine life in a natural setting,” said Ursitti. “We look forward to working with San Diego’s students and faculty to provide a unique learning experience.”
Founded in 1935, H&M Landing is the West Coast’s oldest sportfishing company, with the largest commercial passenger fleet. With local and extended trips down the Baja coast, H&M offers fishing year-round, for surface game fish in spring, summer and fall and for rock cod through the winter months.
H&M has offered whale-watching every winter since its founding.