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1. Port-at-a-Glance

Located on California’s Northern Coast, the town of Eureka was established in 1856. However, Eureka area has been important for the Wiyot people and their use of natural resources for thousands of years, and for commercial and recreational use since the mid 19th century. After the town was established, Eureka was an important arrival and supply port during the California Gold Rush. Timber and fishing were mainstays of the local economy for decades. The residents of this remote port have dealt with economic and ecological challenges including the loss of the timber industry and declines in the port’s primary fisheries.

Nonetheless, fishing has remained one of Eureka’s most important sectors both economically and culturally, although the fisheries on which it has been most dependent have shifted over time. Currently, important fisheries for the port include Dungeness crab, groundfish, salmon and pink shrimp. Although salmon remains a significant species for local fishers, landings have decreased since the mid-1980s as a result of declining fish returns and more restrictive management measures. The pink shrimp and groundfish fisheries became more active in the 1960s and 1970s as trawl technologies improved. Groundfish was once an important year-round fishery for the port, however, the West Coast-wide fishery was declared a federal fishery disaster in 2000 following a sharp decline in landings of these species and overcapitalization in the fishery.

Eureka was among the ports most affected by the implementation of the Federal Pacific Coast Groundfish Buyback Program in 2003 to reduce capacity in the fishery, with 13 of the port’s groundfish trawlers removed. From their peak in 2002 to 2021, the number of fish business licenses active in Eureka has decreased by half. The number of commercial fishing licenses associated with the port has decreased from 242 in 1999 to 117 in 2021. Currently, Dungeness crab is the port’s primary fishery by ex-vessel value, and groundfish is the port’s primary fishery by weight. In 2021, landings at the Port of Eureka accounted for 5% of California’s total commercial fishing landings.