Keith “Buddy” Guindon already knew the ropes when, at age 15, he first shoved off to fish the treasure-laden shores of Galveston in a small Glastron boat with his father, Gregory. Their fishing trips back home in Saint Paul, Minnesota, usually began at twilight and almost always ended with a haul of northern pike and walleye. But until that June day in 1971, never had an expedition given them the opportunity to sell their catch—several hundred pounds of red snapper and cobia—to the kitchen at the erstwhile Hill’s Pier 19.
That life-altering trip was forever imprinted on Guindon’s mind, so much so that he was quick to move to Texas after an honorable discharge from the Marines in 1977. Fishing was a constant, even as he worked at his father’s Exxon station, then purchased Streater’s Place—a bygone tavern famous for staging cockroach races on a wooden track. By 1991, the sea beckoned, and Guindon relinquished his publican status for a life on the water.
Today, in the same spot where he made his first commercial sale at Pier 19 on the Galveston Channel, he’s opened a seafood market and boat-to-table restaurant, Katie’s Seafood House, that boasts Gulf fish and shellfish reeled in daily by Guindon’s fleet of trawlers. Named for his wife, whom he met at Streater’s, the hulking 3,800-square-feet restaurant—what was formerly a Joe’s Crab Shack—presents the freshest catch prepared in a variety of culinary traditions. For example, golden tilefish is available in multiple daily treatments, including tikka masala or Caribbean-style, which is jerk seasoned, topped with mango salsa and curried Jamaican sauce, and served over coconut rice.
“I didn’t know anything about the restaurant business, and I still don’t know anything about the restaurant business,” Guindon laughs. “But I wanted to give the people of Galveston what they have at their own front door.”
Since opening the restaurant with his wife and brother seven years ago, Guindon has entrusted the culinary operations to chef and general manager Brett Otteman, who came from Tex-Mex institution The Original Ninfa’s in Houston to oversee the preparation of the freshest seafood available. When interviewing for the role, Otteman remembers feeling a “cupid’s arrow” when Guindon told him the daily specials wouldn’t be determined until the restaurant’s 14 boats came sailing in each morning. That means on days heavier with bycatch like amberjack and almaco jack, the chef might cure and smoke the fish to layer onto bagels; or he’ll cube the meat into burnt ends seasoned with garlic butter and “falcon dust,” an original in-house Cajun spice mixture named for one of the restaurant’s boats.
In addition to highlighting the lesser-known bounty of the Gulf, Guindon and his team advocate for whole animal, fin-to-tail preparations like cornmeal-fried snapper wings. Prepared like its poultry equivalent, the cut is taken from the snapper’s collarbone and slathered in lemon pepper seasoning or Buffalo sauce. Another no-waste approach is utilizing all the scales, backbones, and fins Otteman picks up from the market to create a fish stock for seafood gumbo and an umami bowl layered with shrimp, red snapper, rice noodles, and fresh herbs.
This sustainable approach in the kitchen extends to Guindon’s career on the water, where he spends much of his free time with the Environmental Defense Fund. In 2007, the organization stepped in to help create a management system to curb the impending extinction of American red snapper, grouper, and amberjack. Now with his four sons helping run the business, Guindon is able to connect with fishermen across the nation, as well as in Mexico, Cuba, Japan, and Canada, to share how the EDF’s catch-share system can improve fisheries and expand the breadth of fish in the sea.
“In the Marine Corps, they teach you things like honor and duty, the types of things that make you want to pay people back,” says Guindon of his work with Congress on behalf of fishermen. “The EDF changed my life, and they didn’t just do it for me—they did it for the entire Gulf Coast.”
Today, Guindon’s reputation for conservation has spread throughout the world. The 2016 National Geographic reality show Big Fish Texas—which documented the Guindon family’s day-to-day hurdles running a restaurant and fishing operation—is partly responsible. There’s also his acceptance of the 2025 Gladding Memorial Award, which honors conservation-minded anglers. “Buddy Guindon has helped transform Gulf red snapper from a collapsing, dangerous derby fishery into a global model for sustainable fishing,” says Amanda Leland, executive director of the EDF. “His leadership has inspired the next generation to stay in the industry, and helped fisheries around the world look to the Gulf as proof that smart, collaborative management can preserve our oceans and fishermen’s livelihoods.”
Now 70, Guindon is a living example of the motto he and his fellow fishermen have come to fully understand: A rising tide lifts all boats.
