4. Fishing Profile: Commercial and Recreational Fisheries

4.1 Gear Types

Fishermen from Moss Landing primarily use the following gear types:

• Traps and Pots
• Trawl
• Longline
• Purse Seine

4.2 Commercial Fishery

4.2.1 Fleet Description

In 2021, 20 of the state’s 6,650 commercial fishing license holders reported Moss Landing as their home address, 176 of the state’s approximately 1,674 active commercial fishing vessels landed catch at the port, and 130 of the state’s 3,148 registered commercial fishing vessels were homeported at Moss Landing. (Note: License counts are based on addresses in Moss Landing and do not include neighboring communities. 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 Moss Landing grew from 50 in 1998 to more than 63 in 2001, then varied slightly but declined overall to 20 in 2021 (Figure 7). Moss Landing-based fishers are older 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 Moss Landing the average age was 57 and the median age was 59.

Figure 7: Commercial Fishing License Holders in Moss Landing 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 2018 (Figure 8) that were either linked with vessels homeported in Moss Landing or to fishers with a Moss Landing address included: 12 resident Dungeness crab permits, 11 market squid permits (including vessel, lightboat and brail), 4 halibut trawl permits, 68 salmon vessel permits and 10 salmon stamps. Stamps are linked with fisher licenses whereas salmon vessel permits are linked with a vessels). 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 8: Commercial fishing permits by type held by fishers and vessels with a Moss Landing address and statewide, in 2021

CaliforniaMoss Landing

The number of commercial fishing vessels homeported at Moss Landing has fluctuated over time (Figure 9). According to vessels registration data, between 1991 and 1992 the resident fleet shrank by almost two-thirds (117 vessels), likely due to the 1992 salmon fishery disaster (Note: This fluctuation may also be attributed to reporting errors in the data.). After rebuilding, the resident fleet shrank again between 1998 and 2000 by about one third (56 vessels). As a result of declines in the groundfish fishery in 2000 the fishery was declared a federal disaster, leading to the subsequent vessel buyback program which removed an additional one trawl vessel from the Moss Landing fleet. From 2010 to 2011, the fleet grew by about 50% from 92 vessels to 134 vessels, which may be attributed to a rebound in the market squid fishery and a short-lived increase in salmon landings and ex-vessel value. The fleet remained relatively stable from 2011-2018. In 2021, vessels homeported at Moss Landing averaged 30 ft in length, ranging from 10 to 79 ft with a median length of 30.1 ft (Figure 10).

Figure 9: Commercial fishing vessels homeported at Moss Landing and average vessel length 1989-2021

Figure 10: Commercial fishing vessels homeported in Moss Landing by length in 2021

4.2.2 Primary Fisheries and Trends

In terms of commercial landings for the period 1992-2021 (Figure 11), coastal pelagic species (primarily Pacific sardine and northern anchovy aggregated under the label coastal pelagic species) and market squid, have been the top two fisheries, together accounting for 96% of landings (Figure 12). Market squid, groundfish, coastal pelagic species and salmon are the top fisheries in terms of values, making up 86% of ex-vessel value (Figure 13) at the port.

Figure 11: Top Commercial Fisheries for Moss Landing for periods: 2021, 2017-2021, 1992-2021

Market squidGroundfishCoastal pelagic speciesSalmon Other

Figure 12: Commercial landings (by weight) at Moss Landing 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 13: Ex-vessel value of commercial landings at Moss Landing 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. 

Landings of coastal pelagic species peaked in the mid-2000s at more than 90,000,000 pounds and then declined rapidly leading up to the sardine fishery disaster and closure in 2015 (Figure 14). The shift was brought on by declining biomass, changing ocean conditions and overexploitation (Source).

Figure 14: Moss Landing commercial coastal pelagic fishery landings and ex-vessel value, 1989-2021

Annual groundfish landings dropped substantially through the 2000s after the 2000 groundfish disaster (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 regulations 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) (Source).

Figure 15: Moss Landing commercial groundfish fishery landings and ex-vessel value, 1989-2018

Figure 16: Ex-vessel value of commercial landings of groundfish species groups at Moss Landing, 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 Moss Landing, 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. 

The salmon fishery also accounted for a notable proportion (11%) of ex-vessel value over that same period, ranking fourth on this measure. (Figure 18). Overall salmon landings and ex-vessel value have declined since the 1970s and 1980s due to declining salmon returns and habitat issues. However, it remains one of the most important fisheries for fishers at Moss Landing and along much of the coast (Source: Poe, M., Norman, K. and Drakopulos, L., August. Facing Change: Using Rapid Ethnographic Assessment to Identify Resilience Strategies in West Coast Fishing Communities. In 148th Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society, 2018). In Moss Landing, salmon landings and value dwindled in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with no landings 2008-2009 due to the fishery disaster and closure. Salmon’s importance is reflected in the number of permits (68) (associated with vessels) and stamps (10) (associated with fishing licenses) held in Moss Landing in 2021, which was the highest proportion of permits there, even though salmon accounts for a relatively small proportion of total landings and ex-vessel value at the port.

Figure 18: Moss Landing commercial salmon fishery landings and ex-vessel value, 1989-2018

More recently from 2017-2021, market squid and coastal pelagic species, primarily northern anchovy, were Moss Landing’s top fisheries in terms of landings. For the same period, market squid, groundfish, and salmon were Moss Landing’s top fisheries in terms of landings ex-vessel value (Figure 9). The market squid fishery had steep declines in landings due to environmental factors in the late 2010s, however, they soon increased to record highs in terms of both landings and value (Figure 19) (Source). Whereas the sardine fishery was declared a disaster in 2015, northern anchovy made of 48% of the port’s landings from 2014-2018.

Figure 19: Moss Landing 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, five (1%) were homeported in Moss Landing, accounting for less than 1% of trips statewide. Based on CPFV trip logs and landings data, the primary recreational fisheries were nearshore groundfish; rockfish, lingcod and salmon were the most targeted. These numbers do not reflect recreational fishing conducted on private vessels or shoreside. Rockfish species catches accounted for 93% of all for-hire landings at the port in 2021 (Figure 20). Moss Landing was historically an important port for salmon sport (and commercial) fishing, however, 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), Lingcod became an important target species in the early 2010s.

Figure 20: CPFV landings by species at Moss Landing, 1989-2021

In 2021, the five CPFVs homeported at Moss Landing reported a total of one-hundred and four trips. Based on the CPFV logbook data for 1989-2021, the number of reported CPFV trips has varied greatly over time. Trips increased from 1989-1998. Except for drops in 1999 and 2002, CPFV trips stayed steady at 175-200 trips until 2005. Trips dropped dramatically after 2005, related in part to salmon declines and the statewide closure in 2008. Numbers rebounded briefly until 2012 but have since declined. Averaged over the years 1989-2021, groundfish accounted for 88% and salmon accounted for 5% of CPFV landings (Figure 20). Landings remained steady at about 5,000 fish for most of the 2000s (Figure 21). Landings increased to around 16,000 fish in the early 2010s, and then erratically peaking around 20,000 in 2015 and 2017 before dropping to 25 in 2018 and then rising again to 8,422 in 2021.

Figure 21: CPFV landings at Moss Landing, 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
• Groundfish
• Market Squid

For Moss Landing’s primary fisheries Table 3 summarizes relevant management authorities and measures and Figure 22 summarizes seasonality as of 2018-19.

Figure 22: Seasonality of Selected Central Coast California Fisheries, 2018-19 (adapted from Culver & Pomeroy)

4.5 Fishing Organizations