4. Fishing Profile: Commercial and Recreational Fisheries

4.1 Gear Types

Fishermen from Half Moon Bay primarily use the following gear types:

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

4.2 Commercial Fishery

4.2.1 Fleet Description

In 2021, 68 of the state’s 6,650 commercial fishing license holders reported Half Moon Bay as their home address, 199 of the state’s approximately 1,674 active commercial fishing vessels landed catch at the port, and 97 of the state’s 3,148 registered commercial fishing vessels were homeported at Half Moon Bay. (Note: License counts are based on addresses in Half Moon Bay and Princeton. 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 city was used to determine home port.) The number of fishing license holders in Half Moon Bay grew from 45 in 1998 to 54 in 1999, then fluctuated but increased overall to 68 in 2021 (Figure 9). Half Moon Bay-based fishers are slightly older on average than California fishers as a whole: the average age of commercial fishing license holders in Califorinia in 2021 was 49, whereas in Half Moon Bay the average age was 49 and the median age was 51.

Figure 9: Commercial Fishing License Holders in Half Moon Bay 1998-2021

Figure 10: Commercial fishing permits by type held by fishers and vessels with a Half Moon Bay address and statewide, in 2021

CaliforniaHalf Moon Bay

The number of Half Moon Bay commercial fishing vessels has fluctuated over time (Figure 11). Between 1991 and 1992 the resident fleet shrank by about one-third (58 vessels), likely due to the 1992 salmon fishery disaster. Between 1998 and 2000 the resident fleet shrank again by about one third (31 vessels), largely as 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, though none homeported at Half Moon Bay that year. In 2021, vessels homeported at Half Moon Bay averaged 33 ft in length, ranging from 10 to 63.3 ft with a median length of 33.65 ft (Figure 12).

Figure 11: Commercial fishing vessels homeported at Half Moon Bay and average vessel length 1989-2021

Figure 12: Commercial fishing vessels homeported in Half Moon Bay by length in 2021

4.2.2 Primary Fisheries and Trends

In terms of both commercial landings for 1992-2021 (Figure 13), market squid, Dungeness crab and groundfish have been the top fisheries, together accounting for 83% of landings (Figure 14). In terms of ex-vessel value Dungeness crab, salmon, market squid and groundfish are the primary fisheries accounting for 92% of the ex-vessel value at the port (Figure 15).

Figure 13: Top Commercial Fisheries for Half Moon Bay for periods: 2021, 2017-2021, 1992-2021

Dungeness crabGroundfishSalmon Market squid Coastal pelagic species Other

Figure 14: Commercial landings (by weight) at Half Moon Bay 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 15: Ex-vessel value of commercial landings at Half Moon Bay 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 2000 groundfish disaster (Figure 16). The distribution of catch among groundfish species groups (e.g. nearshore rockfish, shelf and slope rockfish, and sablefish) shifted with regulations (Figures 17 and 18) such as those related to California’s Nearshore Fishery Management Plan and restrictions on taking of shelf and slope species with the establishment of the Federal Rockfish Conservation Area (Table 2). (For more information about Rockfish species management groups see https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Marine/Groundfish/Nearshore-Shelf-And-Slope.)

Figure 16: Half Moon Bay commercial groundfish fishery landings and ex-vessel value, 1989-2021

Figure 17: Weight of commercial landings of groundfish species groups at Half Moon Bay, 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 18: Ex-vessel value of commercial landings of groundfish species groups at Half Moon Bay, 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 Half Moon Bay are salmon and coastal pelagic species. Although salmon landings and ex-vessel value have declined since the 1970s and 1980s due to declining salmon returns and habitat issues, it remains one of the most important fisheries for fishers at Half Moon Bay and along much of the coast. Salmon landings went into sharp decline at the port in the early 2000s, particularly after the 2008 statewide closure (Figure 19). Salmon’s importance is reflected in the number of permits (associated with vessels) and stamps (associated with fishing licenses) held in Half Moon Bay in 2021, which was a combined total of 122 and the highest proportion of permits there, even though salmon accounts for a small proportion of total landings and ex-vessel value at the port.

Figure 19: Half Moon Bay commercial salmon fishery landings and ex-vessel value, 1989-2021

The coastal pelagic fishery has made up a notable portion of the port’s landings in the late 1990s (17% for 1997-1999) (Figure 20). However, in 2000 the area experienced a severe die-off of anchovy and landings dropped to almost zero (Source). The fishery fluctuated after 2000. Notably in 2018 Northern anchovy made up 42% of Half Moon Bay’s total landings, more than any other fishery by volume.

Figure 20: Half Moon Bay commercial coastal pelagic fishery landings and ex-vessel value, 1989-2021

From 2017-2021 market squid, coastal pelagic species and Dungeness crab were Half Moon Bay’s top fisheries in terms of landings. Dungeness crab, salmon and market squid were the port’s top fisheries in terms of ex-vessel value (Figure 12). Dungeness crab landings dropped in 2015 (Figure 21) due to delayed openings caused by domoic acid (see also section 5 of this report “Current Issues Affecting the Port’s Fisheries”). In 2020 Dungeness crab landings dropped somewhat when season openings were delayed to prevent gear entanglements with migrating whales.

Figure 21: Half Moon Bay commercial Dungeness crab fishery landings and ex-vessel value, 1989-2021

After a period of almost no catches starting in 2004, (Table 2), market squid landings increased dramatically in the port. Reflecting a coastwide fishery expansion in the 2010s, market squid accounted for more than 22% of the total value, and more than 67% of landings at the port from 2009-2018 (Figure 22).

Figure 22: Half Moon Bay commercial market squid 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, 10 (2%) are homeported in Half Moon Bay, accounting for 2% of trips statewide. Based on CPFV trip logs and landings data, the primary recreational fisheries were rockfish and salmon; in 2021 rockfish species, lingcod and salmon were the most targeted species. These numbers do not reflect recreational fishing conducted on private vessels or shoreside. Nearshore groundfish catches accounted for 88% of all for-hire landings at the port in 2021, followed by salmon (4%), and Dungeness crab and lingcod (2% each)(Figure 23). Although Half Moon Bay was historically an important port for salmon sport (and commercial) fishing, increasingly stringent federal fishery management measures to address declining salmon stocks led to significant drop-in fishing activity in the late 1980s. This had profound implications for the port and the larger community.

Figure 23: CPFV landings by species at Half Moon Bay, 1989-2021

In 2021, the nine CPFVs homeported at Half Moon Bay reported a total of 614 trips. Based on the CPFV logbook data for 1989-2021, the number of reported CPFV trips has varied considerably over time, peaking in 1997 then declining in 2002 (under 700), following the federal groundfish fishery disaster declaration, and again in 2008 (almost 500) following the statewide salmon closure (Figure 24). (Note: The precise data on numbers of trips cannot be reported for most years for Half Moon Bay due to confidentiality rules when there are fewer than three vessels in a port in a given year.) Trips have since steadily increased, except for 2015-16 when the recreational Dungeness crab fishery opener was delayed due to elevated domoic acid levels. Averaged over the years 1989-2021, groundfish accounted for 84%, salmon accounted for 5%, and Dungeness crab accounted for 4% of CPFV landings (Figure 23). Landings remained steady above 150,000 fish for most of the 1990s, then dropped below 48,000 in 2002 as a result of the groundfish disaster. Landing dropped again from 2008-2010 due to salmon closures and declines, and again in 2015-2016 due to domoic acid delays in the Dungeness crab fishery (Figure 20).

Figure 24: CPFV landings at Half Moon Bay, 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:

• Coastal Pelagic Species
• Dungeness Crab
• Groundfish
• Market Squid
• Salmon

Figure 25: Seasonality of Selected North Central Coast California Fisheries, 2018-19 (adapted from Culver & Pomeroy)

4.5 Fishing Organizations