Crescent City Profile - California Sea Grant

Finally, the local demand for seafood atCrescent City has influenced and been affectedby local fisheries. Some locally caught seafoodhas been sold via off-the-boat and other directsales by fishermen, a local vendor (Lucy’sSeafood) during crab season and, through the1990s until it closed, by Eureka Fisheries atthe harbor. However, local demand for freshcommercially caught seafood has been limitedbecause of Crescent City’s small population,isolation from larger urban centers (and“limited foot traffic,” as one participant noted),and the tendency of many residents to catchtheir own seafood.Recreational FisheriesRecreational fishery participants highlightedthe general economic downturn for itsdampening effect on Crescent City’srecreational fisheries over the past severalyears. They also cited rapidly rising fuelprices at the time of the study, noting thatthey and other recreational fishermen were“carpooling,” with two or more anglers fishingfrom one boat to share fuel costs. In addition,Crescent City Harbor increasingly competeswith the port of Brookings, Oregon, wherefewer restrictions, lower fuel prices and theabsence of sales tax reportedly have attractedsome anglers who used to fish out of CrescentCity.Among fishery-support businesses orientedtoward recreational fisheries, several havefaced challenges as fishing opportunities havechanged. One former business owner discussedthe impacts of the Klamath-driven recreationalsalmon fishery cutbacks of the early 1990s. Inthe late 1980s, the recreational ocean fisherywas very active. Local recreational fisherysupport businesses were thriving, with recordgear sales and other activity: “The launchramp between Fashion Blacksmith and theharbor was backed up. Folks came fromRedding, Anderson, Cotton, Fresno...They’dspend the winter in Yuma and the summer inCrescent City.” When the fishery was sharplycurtailed in 1991, however, “Recreationalfishermen left in droves. The harbor had aplan to build 500 more slips…It was a blowto the entire community.” Over the nextfew years, as recreational fishing activity atthe harbor continued to decline, many localfishery-support businesses closed or shiftedtheir focus to be less dependent on recreationalfishing activity. However, in recent yearssome businesses have begun to carry morerecreational gear to make up for a decline incommercial activity.The recent economic downturn coupled withdeclining local fishing opportunities is evidentas well. For example, one of the local RV parkshas experienced a shift from primarily seasonal(summer) recreational fishing enthusiasts toyear-round nonfishing residents. According tothe owner:Fishing was great up until the late1980s. We were full with recreationalfishing folks. It’s really the last threeto four years that we began taking inother users. The regulars [who camefor the fishing season] would fight overspaces….The fishermen are runninglate this year [2008, with the statewidesalmon closure]. Usually, they’rehere by mid May. I’ve received 30reservations for the summer; not manyof them are fishermen.Crescent City Fishing Community Profile 47