Cyril Gonzales was born and raised in southern Louisiana in the small fishing town of Shell Beach. He grew up in the marshes and bayous of which he became very familiar by working in the seafood industry as young boy. He spent time as a deckhand on shrimp boats, oyster boats and eventually became the captain of the family's double rigger shrimp boat then the dock manager of the family's seafood and ice house business where he transitioned from catching fresh seafood to buying and distributing seafood. At the age of 18, he became a diesel mechanic. He worked for 5 years in that profession before deciding to attempt nursing as a career change. He attended night school while working as a mechanic, eventually allowing him to attend nursing school full time and graduate as a licensed practical nurse in which he worked for over 5 years in hospitals and nursing homes. He eventually found his calling in real estate and is the current owner of Master Search LLC, a real estate abstracting company in Jefferson parish.
His passion then turned to flying where he obtained ratings for single and multiengine airplanes as well as a commercial endorsement and instrument ratings. He volunteers with the Civil Air Patrol as well as Angel Flights. Being very familiar with the marshland, he has now joined with SouthWings to assist with the monitoring and restoration efforts of our coastland.
He is also an avid spear fisherman holding several top 5 and top 10 spear fishing records including spearing a 112.4 lb. amberjack, 31.2 lb. scamp grouper (LA #2), a 1286.1 gram Lionfish (LA #1, GOM #2), a 81.2 lb. lemon fish among others. He was with the Aqua Aces diving club for 10 years of which he was King spear fisherman for 7 of the 10 years. Then with the Sea Tigers diving club for 2 years before selling his boat and transitioned to diving recreationally. He also has a passion for playing no limit Texas Hold'em, as well as hunting and fishing.
Seeing the harm to our coast both above and below the water line has given him a unique insight and a drive to help restore our fisheries and coastline and to help spread the word of our great ecosystem.
