Crescent City Profile - California Sea Grant

Table 2. Out-of-area businesses used by Crescent City fishery participants.Business Name Business Type LocationMonterey Fish Co. Bait Watsonville, SalinasVariousBaitDavid Peterson Boatwright EurekaHarbor Logging Cable Brookings, ORTrilogy Crab pot materials Bellingham, WACustom Crab Pots Crab pot materials EurekaFred’s Marine Electronics EurekaChetco Marine Marine supplies Chetco, ORCostco Miscellaneous supplies EurekaOutboard mechanicLos Angeles, Eureka; Reedsport, ORIlwaco, Westport, WAEureka; Medford and Grants Pass,ORCabella’s Sport fishing clothing, gear OnlineFoul Weather Trawl Trawl nets/gear Newport, ORVarious suppliesRedding; Medford, ORNOAA Weather Service Weather information Eureka (online)crab, and the trawl 16 , hook-and-line and trapfisheries for various groundfish species. 17Other current include the trawl fisheries forpink shrimp (Pandalus jordani) and Pacificwhiting (Merluccius productus), the pot fisheryfor coonstripe shrimp (Pandalus danae), andtroll fisheries for Chinook or king salmon andalbacore tuna (Thunnus alalunga).Most of these fisheries are seasonal as afunction of resource availability, regulationsthat define when, where and how eachfishery is allowed to operate, the availabilityof buyers, and market demand (Table 3).However, it should be noted that the actualtemporal distribution of activity is oftenmore compressed, variable and complexthan suggested by the table. For instance, theavailability of albacore varies widely fromone year to the next. The salmon fishery inCalifornia’s KMZ was completely closed in2006, 2008 and 2009, and open only brieflyin 2007. The Dungeness crab fishery isconcentrated in the winter months due to peakholiday demand. Groundfish seasons tend tobe defined in two-month increments (reflectingthe use of bimonthly vessel cumulative landinglimits), vary by species and fishery sector, andare sometimes subject to inseason closure toprevent OYs of selected species from beingexceeded.About 100 commercial fishing vessels arehomeported at Crescent City. Commercialfishery participants described the makeup ofthe resident fleet as including five trawlers, 12nearshore fishing operations, and about 85 to90 crabber/trollers. While most local fishermenfocus on a particular fishery, most participatein one or more additional fisheries during theyear. The fleet includes both full-time andpart-time fishermen. Full-time skippers dependon fishing for their livelihood and fish yearround,as resource availability, weather andregulations permit. Part-time skippers fish partof the year, often focusing on a single fishery,and may pursue other activities as part of theirlivelihood.Crescent City Fishing Community Profile 11