4. Fishing Profile: Commercial and Recreational Fisheries

4.1 Gear Types

Fishermen from San Diego primarily use the following gear types:

• Traps and Pots
• Dive

4.2 Commercial Fishery

4.2.1 Fleet Description

In 2021, 327 of the state’s 6,650 commercial fishing license holders reported San Diego as their home address, 164 of the state’s approximately 1,674 active commercial fishing vessels landed catch at the port, and 353 of the state’s 3,214 registered commercial fishing vessels were homeported in San Diego. (Note: License counts are based on addresses in San Diego including the communities of Point Loma, Mission Bay and National City. 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 San Diego grew from 336 in 1998 to more than 400 in 1999. The number of licenses fluctuated and eventually peaked in 2020 with 440 but then decreased by almost a quarter to 327 in 2021 after the start of the COVID 19 pandemic (Figure 5). San Diego -based fishers are similar to California fishers as a whole in terms of age: the average age of commercial fishing license holders in California in 2021 was 49, with a median age of 48, whereas in San Diego the average age was 48 and the median age was 48.

Figure 5: Commercial Fishing License Holders in San Diego 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 6) that were either linked with vessels homeported in San Diego or to fishers with a San Diego address included: 83 lobster permits (including operator and crewmen), 46 general gillnet permits, 40 swordfish permits, 26 southern rock crab permits, 20 drift gillnet for shark/swordfish, and 12 sea urchin (including crew and dive).

Figure 6: Commercial fishing permits by type held by fishers and vessels with a San Diego address and statewide, in 2021

CaliforniaSan Diego

The number of San Diego commercial fishing vessels has fluctuated over time (Figure 7). Between 1990 and 1998 the resident fleet shrank by a little less than one-third (133 vessels), and then from 1998 to 1999, the fleet shrank again, losing 179 vessels. This was largely a result of increased regulations and declining landings and revenues in the red sea urchin and highly migratory species fisheries. The fleet rebounded after 1999, growing to 389 vessels in 2020 but then declining to 353 in 2021. In 2021, vessels homeported at San Diego averaged 34 ft in length, ranging from 15 to 110.1 ft, with a median length of 34.5 ft (Figure 8).

Figure 7: Commercial fishing vessels homeported at San Diego and average vessel length 1989-2021

Figure 8: Commercial fishing vessels homeported in San Diego by length in 2021

4.2.2 Primary Fisheries and Trends

In terms of commercial landings for 1992-2021 (Figure 9), highly migratory species and red sea urchin have been the top two fisheries, together accounting for 65% of landings at the port (Figure 10). In terms of ex-vessel value for the same period (Figure 11), highly migratory species, California spiny lobster and red sea urchin have been the top three fisheries, together accounting for 77% of the ex-vessel value at the port.

Figure 9: Top Commercial Fisheries for San Diego for periods: 2021, 2017-2021, 1992-2021

Highly migratory speciesCalifornia spiny lobsterCoastal pelagic species

OpahRed sea urchinOther

Figure 10: Commercial landings (by weight) at San Diego 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 11: Ex-vessel value of commercial landings at San Diego 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. 

Red sea urchin landings have declined overall since the early 1990s, which reflects the loss of the lucrative Japanese export market (Figure 12). In Sn Diego, and coastwide, the value of California spiny lobster has consistently increased since the 1990s, although landings have declined over the same time (Figure 13).

Figure 12: San Diego commercial red sea urchin landings and ex-vessel value, 1989-2021

Figure 13: San Diego commercial California spiny lobster fishery landings and ex-vessel value, 1989-2021

Highly migratory species, primarily swordfish and thresher shark, accounted for 35% of the total value of landings at the port from 1992-2021 and 39% of the landed weight. However, landings declined from 1999-2010, maintained an all-time low for the port from 2010-2013, then slowly increased thereafter (Figure 14).

Figure 14: San Diego commercial highly migratory species fishery landings and ex-vessel value, 1989-2021

More recently, from 2017-2021, highly migratory species, California spiny lobster and coastal pelagic species were San Diego’s top fisheries in terms of ex-vessel value (Figure 9). Highly migratory species, coastal pelagic species, and opah were the top fisheries in terms of landings for the same period. Spot Prawn landings and value steadily increased with fishery expansion from the late 2000s, but began to decline starting in 2019 (Figure 15). Opah landings increased dramatically from 2013-2020 as more longliners began offloading their catch in San Diego (Figure 16) (Source). Local processors quickly developed a market for the large fish. Opah landings dropped in 2021 to less than half of the previous year.

Figure 15: San Diego commercial spot prawn 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. 

Figure 16: San Diego commercial opah fishery landings and ex-vessel value, 1989-2021

4.3 Recreational Fishery

Of the state’s 622 licensed Commercial Passenger Fishing Vessels (CPFV)––for-hire recreational fishing boats––in 2021, 162 (27%) are homeported in San Diego (including Mission Bay), accounting for 31% of trips statewide. Based on CPFV trip logs and landings data, the primary recreational fisheries are rockfish, yellowtail, tuna, ocean whitefish, basses and dolphin (fish); tuna is the most targeted species. These numbers do not reflect recreational fishing conducted on private vessels or shoreside. Tuna catches accounted for 29% of all for-hire landings at the port in 2021, followed by yellowtail (24%), rockfish (23%) and basses (7%) (Figure 17).

Figure 17: CPFV landings by species at San Diego, 1989-2021

In 2021, the 162 CPFVs homeported at San Diego reported a total of 10,948 trips. Based on the CPFV logbook data for 1989-2021, the number of reported CPFV trips has varied somewhat over time but has increased overall. The number of trips dropped by one third (about 2,000) between 1989 and 1999 but then climbed to almost 10,000 in 2004. Trips dropped by more than 3,000 from 2004-2011 but then peaked at more than 12,000 in 2015. Averaged over the years 1989-2021, tuna accounted for 33% of CPFV landings, followed by yellowtail (18%), rockfish (14%), and basses (13%) (Figure 17). Landings increased again in the early 2000s to just under 500,000 fish and dropped below 300,000 in the early 1990s and again in 2010 (Figure 18). Landings increased to around 474,000 fish in early 2014 but declined overall between 2014 and 2021.

Figure 18: CPFV landings at San Diego, 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:

• California Spiny Lobster
• Red Sea Urchin
• Spot Prawn
• Highly Migratory Species

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

4.5 Fishing Organizations