Crescent City Profile - California Sea Grant

fishing, receiving and processing capacity,but also the businesses that supportedthem. However, this era of expansion gaveway to contraction as growing concernsover the health of many commercially andrecreationally important species promptedincreasingly stringent regulation in severalfisheries.Changing Fisheries, Changing CommunityThe ocean salmon fishery was the first of manyto be restricted amid growing concern aboutthe health of fish stocks, in this case KlamathRiver fall Chinook. With the implementationof limited entry for the troll fishery, reductionsin season length especially in the KMZ, theincreased harvest allocation to the Tribes(Pierce 1998), and recent statewide closuresof the fishery, commercial salmon fishing atCrescent City has gone from a central featureof the port to almost nonexistent today.The situation in the recreational fishery issimilar. As of the late 1970s when harborenhancements were completed, recreationalsalmon fishing involved some 500 boats inseasonal slips and as many as 100 more onmoorings in the harbor’s outer basin. Therecreational fleet included out-of-towners aswell as locals. Retirees, school teachers andothers would trailer their salmon boats to theharbor and stay for weeks or the entire summerto fish. Some even bought commercial licensesto be able to land more fish and offset theirexpenses. Many stayed at local RV parks atthe harbor or elsewhere in town. A distinctiveculture associated with this fishery grewover time, as participants returned year afteryear and built strong social networks in thecommunity.After the implementation of limited entryin 1982, which made commercial fishinguntenable for many part time fishermen,activity dropped. Subsequent sharp reductionsin the length of the KMZ commercial salmonseason led to economic and social losses(PFMC 1985). Some fishing communitymembers remarked that for Crescent City thesalmon disaster occurred not in 2006 or 2008as noted in statewide news, but rather in 1985when the KMZ was first closed for the season.In response to the changes of the early 1980s,those who remained in the fishery shiftedtheir effort south or north of the KMZ, wherethe salmon fishing season remained openconsiderably longer. Others shifted their effortto other fisheries such as groundfish, shrimp orcrab. Many others left fishing altogether. Thisloss of fishing activity led to reduced demandfor goods and services and reduced revenuesfor fishery-support businesses including gearsupply stores, fuel and ice providers, RV parksand motels that housed visiting fishermenand their families, and others. In addition, itsignaled a change in community relationshipsand identity that had been largely shaped bythe bustling summer salmon season.A major change occurred in the recreationalfishery in 1992, when the season in theCalifornia KMZ was cut from more thanfour months to 14 days. According to studyparticipants, the 14-day season was a disasterfor fishery participants and the community. Atthat time, an estimated 400–600 sport fishingboats participated in the local summer salmonfishery, many of them coming from out oftown and staying for a month or more to fishdaily. According to one participant who thenran a local fishery-support business (whichsoon closed for lack of business), the numberof summer recreational fishery participantsdropped by about 50% in response to theclosure. From 1993 to 2007, the season rangedfrom 1.5 to 4 months, a notable improvementover 1992 but much shorter than the 4- to9-month seasons that prevailed prior to 1992.While Crescent City is subject to similarregulations as other KMZ ports such asCrescent City Fishing Community Profile 43