4. Fishing Profile: Commercial and Recreational Fisheries

4.1 Gear Types

Fishermen from Crescent City primarily use the following gear types:

• Traps and Pots
• Trawl
• Hook-and-Line

4.2 Commercial Fishery

4.2.1 Fleet Description

In 2021, 326 of the state’s 6,650 commercial fishing license holders reported Crescent City as their home address, 118 of the state’s approximately 1,674 active commercial fishing vessels landed catch at the port, and 184 of the state’s 3,148 registered commercial fishing vessels were homeported at Crescent City. (Note: License counts are based on addresses in Crescent City and do not include other communities in the surrounding area. For all state licenses count does not reflect those with out-of-state addresses. For vessels registered with the US Coast Guard owner mailing address was used to determine home port.) The number of fishing license holders in Crescent City grew from 373 in 1998 to more than 400 in 1999, then varied some but overall declined to 326 in 2021 (Figure 8). Crescent City-based fishers are slightly younger on average than California fishers as a whole: the average age of commercial fishing license holders in California in 2021 was 49, with a median age of 48, whereas in Crescent City the average age was 45 and median age was 42.

Figure 8: Commercial Fishing License Holders in Crescent City 1998-2021

For several state- and federally managed fisheries, a fishery-specific permit is required. In some cases such as the state-managed Nearshore Fishery (which covers 19 species, most of them rockfishes), the permit is assigned to the fisherman. In others such as the federally-managed groundfish trawl fishery, the permit is assigned to the vessel. Fishing permits in 2021 (Figure 9) that were either linked with vessels homeported in Crescent City or to fishers with a Crescent City address included: 70 resident Dungeness crab permits (9 non-resident), 28 coonstripe shrimp vessel permits, 12 pink shrimp trawl permits, 8 sablefish permits, 5 trap and 4 trawl (federal), and 54 salmon stamps. Salmon stamps are an indicator of the number of fishermen participating in commercial salmon fishery and typically are not limited; salmon vessel permits are restricted and are an indicator of the number of vessels/operations allowed to participate in the fishery.

Figure 9: Commercial fishing permits by type held by fishers and vessels with a Crescent City address and statewide, in 2021

CaliforniaCrescent City

The number of Crescent City commercial fishing vessels has fluctuated over time (Figure 10). Between 1998 and 2000 the resident fleet shrank by about one third (48 vessels), largely a result of declines in the groundfish fishery, which prompted the 2000 Federal fishery disaster declaration, and led to the subsequent vessel buyback program which removed trawl vessels from the fleet. Crescent City lost more trawlers (16 of 17) than any other port in California. In 2021, vessels homeported at Crescent City averaged 39 ft in length, ranging from 18 to 77.8 ft, with a median length of 40 ft (Figure 11).

Figure 10: Commercial fishing vessels homeported at Crescent City and average vessel length 1989-2021

Figure 11: Commercial fishing vessels homeported in Crescent City by length in 2021

4.2.2 Primary Fisheries and Trends

In terms of both commercial landings and ex-vessel value for the period 1992-2021 (Figure 12), groundfish, Dungeness crab and pink shrimp have been the top three fisheries, together accounting for 96% of landings and 96% of ex-vessel value at the port (Figures 13 and 14). Dungeness crab made up a larger proportion of ex-vessel value (72%) for the 30-year period.

Figure 12: Top Commercial fisheries for Crescent City for periods, 2021, 2017-2021, 1992-2021

Dungeness crabPink shrimp GroundfishOther

Figure 13: Commercial landings (by weight) at Crescent City for top fisheries and all else, 1989-2021*

* The dataset for this graph has been redacted to remove data deemed confidential by California Department of Fish and Wildlife. CDFW does not publicly release data pertaining to three or fewer fishers, vessels, or businesses. 

Figure 14: Ex-vessel value of commercial landings at Crescent City for top fisheries and all else, 1989-2021*

* The dataset for this graph has been redacted to remove data deemed confidential by California Department of Fish and Wildlife. CDFW does not publicly release data pertaining to three or fewer fishers, vessels, or businesses. 

However, annual groundfish landings dropped substantially through the 2000s after the 200 groundfish disaster, and since 2010 have been less than a quarter of 2010 (Figure 15). As Figures 16 and 17 show, the distribution of catch among groundfish species groups (e.g. nearshore rockfish, shelf and slope rockfish, and sablefish) shifted with implementation of the Nearshore Fishery Management Plan and the establishment of the Federal Rockfish Conservation Area (Table 2). Overall sablefish landings decreased with rationalization, and the proportion of nearshore rockfish catch increased.

Figure 15: Crescent City commercial groundfish fishery landings and ex-vessel value, 1989-2021

Figure 16: Ex-vessel value of commercial landings of groundfish species groups at Crescent City, 1989-2021*

* The dataset for this graph has been redacted to remove data deemed confidential by California Department of Fish and Wildlife. CDFW does not publicly release data pertaining to three or fewer fishers, vessels, or businesses. 

Figure 17: Weight of commercial landings of groundfish species groups at Crescent City, 1989-2021*

* The dataset for this graph has been redacted to remove data deemed confidential by California Department of Fish and Wildlife. CDFW does not publicly release data pertaining to three or fewer fishers, vessels, or businesses. 

Among the other commercial fisheries with landings at Crescent City are salmon, albacore (indicated as highly migratory species), hagfish and coonstripe shrimp (Figure 14). Although salmon landings and ex-vessel value have been marginal since the 1970s and 1980s due to declining salmon returns and habitat issues, it remains one of the most important fisheries for fishers at Crescent City and along much of the coast (Figure 18) (Source). Salmon’s importance is reflected in the number of permits (associated with vessels) and stamps (associated with fishing licenses) held in Crescent City in 2021 (106), which was the highest proportion of permits there, despite the fact that salmon accounts for a small proportion of total landings and ex-vessel value at the port. Highly migratory species, primarily albacore tuna, accounted for more than 5% of the total value of landings at the port during the 1990s, perhaps due in part to favorable environmental conditions and sharp reductions in local salmon fishing opportunities during that time (Figure 14).

Figure 18: Crescent City commercial salmon fishery landings and ex-vessel value, 1989-2021*

* The dataset for this graph has been redacted to remove data deemed confidential by California Department of Fish and Wildlife. CDFW does not publicly release data pertaining to three or fewer fishers, vessels, or businesses. 

Albacore had particularly strong years in 1992 (10% of ex-vessel value), 1993 (16% of value), 1994 (7% of value), 1997 and 1998 (5% of value both years) (Figure 19). Albacore landings have declined due to regulatory changes, a shrinking processing sector within the state, and a northward shift of albacore related to changing ocean conditions. 

Figure 19: Crescent City commercial highly migratory species fishery landings and ex-vessel value, 1989-2021*

* The dataset for this graph has been redacted to remove data deemed confidential by California Department of Fish and Wildlife. CDFW does not publicly release data pertaining to three or fewer fishers, vessels, or businesses. 

From 2017-2021 Dungeness crab and pink shrimp were Crescent City’s top fisheries in terms of both landings and ex-vessel value (Figure 12). Dungeness crab landings dropped in 2015 (Figure 20) due to delayed openings caused by domoic acid (see also section 5 of this report “Current Issues Affecting the Port’s Fisheries”). Pink shrimp landings dropped through the late-1990s and 2000s (Figure 21) due to a series of significant regulatory changes including the implementation of limited entry and bycatch reduction programs in the fishery in 2001 (Table 2).

Figure 20: Crescent City commercial Dungeness crab fishery landings and ex-vessel value, 1989-2021

Figure 21: Crescent City commercial pink shrimp fishery landings and ex-vessel value 1989-2021*

* The dataset for this graph has been redacted to remove data deemed confidential by California Department of Fish and Wildlife. CDFW does not publicly release data pertaining to three or fewer fishers, vessels, or businesses. 

4.3 Recreational Fishery

Of the state’s 622 licensed Commercial Passenger Fishing Vessels (CPFV)––for-hire recreational fishing boats––in 2021, six are homeported in Crescent City, accounting for less than 1% of CPFV trips statewide. Based on CPFV trip logs and landings data, the primary recreational fishery is nearshore groundfish; rockfish species and lingcod are the most targeted species. These numbers do not reflect recreational fishing conducted on private vessels or shoreside. Nearshore groundfish catches accounted for 94% of all for-hire landings at the port in 2021, followed by albacore tuna (5%) and Dungeness crab (1%) (Figure 22). Although Crescent City was historically an important port for salmon sport (and commercial) fishing, increasingly stringent federal fishery management measures to address declining coastal salmon stocks beginning in the late 1980s led to a significant drop in fishing activity, with profound implications for the port and the larger community. Whereas albacore tuna has long been targeted by some recreational fishers as oceanographic conditions permit), Dungeness crab became an important target species in the early 2010s. Similar to the commercial fishery, the recreational Dungeness crab fishery experienced a delay in the 2015 season opening that dramatically impacted landings that year.

Figure 22: CPFV landings by species at Crescent City, 1989-2021

In 2021, the six CPFVs homeported at Crescent City reported a total of 139 trips. Based on the CPFV logbook data for 1986-2021, the number of reported CPFV trips has varied considerably over time, peaking in 1991 then declining to almost no trips in 2001, following the federal groundfish fishery disaster declaration (Note: The precise data on numbers of trips cannot be reported for most years for Crescent City due to confidentiality rules when there are fewer than three vessels in a port in a given year. ) Averaged over the period 1989-2021, groundfish accounted for 93% and salmon accounted for 3% of CPFV landings (Figure 22). Landings remained steady at about 2,000 fish for most of the 2000s, although they dropped to almost zero in 2001 and again in 2008 (Figure 23). Landings increased to between 4,000-5,000 fish for most of the 2010s. Landings declined somewhat from 2018-2020, then more than double from 2020 (2,096) to 2021 (5,919).

Figure 23: CPFV landings at Crescent City, 1989-2021

4.4 Fishery Management

California’s commercial and recreational fisheries are variously governed by a mix of state and federal entities with distinct and overlapping management authorities depending on the species and sector. State management authority lies with the Legislature, the Fish and Game Commission and the Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). Federal authority lies primarily with the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). Other state and federal entities also play a role in the governance of some fisheries.

Information about management of this port’s primary fisheries:

• Dungeness Crab
• Groundfish
• Pink Shrimp
• Salmon

Figure 24: Seasonality of Selected North Coast California Fisheries, 2018-19 (adapted from Culver & Pomeroy)

4.5 Fishing Organizations