3. Port Governance and Infrastructure

Dana Point has a large harbor with a marina with moorage space for 2,400 boats of varying sizes and a dry storage facility with space for 464 boats/trailers. Harbor facilities include guest slips, shower and laundry facilities, a fuel dock, shipyard, haul out and launch ramp. The harbor has a seafood buying station, processing facility, and retail location. There are recreational facilities for fishing, windsurfing, boat rentals, jet skiing, kayaking, sailing, yoga, paddle boarding, whale watching and swimming. Dana Wharf Sportfishing operates a fleet of vessels available for charter and sportfishing day trips. The Harbor also contains a shopping and dining district. In 2016, the County released a request for proposals to revitalize Dana Point Harbor. As of 2021, Dana Point Harbor revitalization was moving forward led by Dana Point Harbor Partners, a collaboration created as a public private partnership between Orange County and three real estate development firms (Source).

3.1 Commercial Seafood Handling Infrastructure

A variety of commercial fish businesses receive, and in some cases, process the catch landed at Dana Point by commercial fishers (Table 1). These include businesses that lease and operate the fish receiving stations located at the harbor, other local and non-local businesses that receive the unloaded catch from these receiving station operators, and, in some years, fishers who handle their own (and in some cases others’) catch. In 2021, 9 distinct fish business licenses had a mail, street, or plant address of Dana Point (Table 1). Twenty-four unique fish business licenses received catch at the port. Of those based in Dana Point included commercial fishers licensed to receive and sell their catch, and several smaller locally owned receivers that also had retail storefronts and/or restaurants.

Unlike most ports along the California coast, commercial fish businesses in Dana Point have fluctuated, but increased overall since 2000, with 9 businesses in 2018 (Figure 2). Most port’s processing sectors contracted as a result of the 2000 groundfish disaster and subsequent (2003) coastwide federal trawl buyback program (Table 2). However, Dana Point’s high dependence on other high-value fisheries, such as California spiny lobster and spot prawn, has helped businesses thrive.

Figure 2:  Fish Business Licenses held locally, by type, in Dana Point, 1993-2021

Table 2: Timeline of selected events affecting Dana Point’s primary fisheries.