SOCIO-ECONOMICS OF THE MOSS LANDING COMMERCIAL FISHING INDUSTRY Report to the Monterey County Office of Economic Development Caroline Pomeroy, Ph.D.1 and Michael Dalton, Ph.D.2 June 2003 1 Institute of Marine Sciences, Earth & Marine Sciences Bldg A316, UC Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA 95064; phone: 831 459-5614; fax: 831 459-4882; e-mail: [email protected] 2 Institute for Earth Systems Science & Policy, California State University, Monterey Bay, 100 Campus Center, Seaside CA, 93955-8001; phone: 831-582-3024; fax: 831-582-4688; e-mail: [email protected] SOCIO-ECONOMICS OF THE MOSS LANDING COMMERCIAL FISHING INDUSTRY Executive Summary Caroline Pomeroy and Michael Dalton June 2003 Moss Landing Harbor (MLH) is among the most important commercial fishing ports in California. It recently ranked third in the state in terms of pounds landed and fourth in ex-vessel revenues. The Moss Landing community relies on commercial fishing as a major source of income. Over the past several years, the commercial fishing industry and community at MLH have undergone important changes. In response, the Monterey County Office of Economic Development (OED) contracted us to conduct a study of the socio-economics of the commercial fishing industry at MLH. The over-arching goal of the study was to document its social and economic value and the issues, needs and concerns of its participants to better inform County decision-making about infrastructure investments and other efforts to enhance the industry's economic vitality. The study was guided by four objectives: 1) to assess recent and current trends in fishing activity associated with MLH, 2) to estimate the direct economic value of the commercial fishing industry at MLH, 3) to identify opportunities and constraints to the MLH commercial fishing industry, and 4) to compare MLH to other working harbors in the region. The research focused on four groups most directly associated with the MLH commercial fishing industry: fishermen, resident fish buyers and fishery-support businesses, and the Harbor. (Study of non-resident fish buyers and fishery-support businesses was beyond the scope of this project, but will be done in subsequent projects.) We surveyed 38 commercial fishermen, 4 resident fish buyers, 3 resident fishery-support business owners, and Harbor management, collected additional field data through ethnographic observation and interviews, and used archival data sources including landings data from the Pacific Fisheries Information Network database. This executive summary highlights the study's key findings. Socio-Economic Profile and Estimated Direct Economic Value of the Moss Landing Commercial Fishing Industry The commercial fishing industry at Moss Landing includes about 125 resident and 175 non- resident fishing operations, 7 resident and dozens of non-resident fish buyers, and 9 local businesses and many more located outside Moss Landing that provide goods and services to the industry. Total employment for the operations surveyed was: · 88 skippers and crew, · 307 full-time and 825 part-time fish receiving and processing employees, · 9 full-time and 3 part-time fishery-support business employees, and · 10 Harbor employees. All of these jobs, except for those in receiving and processing, are at Moss Landing. Most of the receiving and processing jobs are located at fish buyers' processing facilities elsewhere within and outside the County. The direct economic value of commercial fishing at MLH is estimated to be between $18 million and $25 million per year (real values in year 2000 dollars), based on the following values, by fishery-related sector: · Fishing operations: $6.7 million · Fish buyers: $7.5 million · Fishery-support businesses: $0.2 million · Moss Landing Harbor: $10.1 million Commercial Fishermen and Fishing Operations Among the Moss Landing commercial fishermen surveyed, about 80% reside in Monterey County, 16% reside elsewhere in California, and 5% reside in Oregon. Over 80% of those surveyed reported Moss Landing as their homeport. Surveyed skippers' fishing experience averaged 28 years overall and 18 years at Moss Landing. Many fish at multiple locations along the California coast, with some fishing as far north as Alaska (for salmon) and as far west as the Western Pacific (for highly migratory species such as albacore tuna). Most fish multiple fisheries as part of their annual round and to adapt to environmental, economic and regulatory variability and uncertainty. Common combinations are salmon and albacore troll (perhaps with crab trap), hook-and-line for diverse groundfish (flatfish, roundfish and rockfish) species, coastal pelagic species (CPS, i.e., anchovy, sardine and squid) purse seine perhaps complemented by San Francisco Bay herring gillnet and Alaska salmon gillnet, and longline or gillnet for multiple species. Moss Landing commercial fishing operations vary considerably in terms of vessel characteristics, equipment, gear, permits and personnel. Together, these features affect the seaworthiness, earning capacity, adaptability and economic viability of the fishing operation, the skipper and the crew. More than half (58%) of the skippers surveyed reported family currently involved in fishing with them or involved in some other aspect of the business. Just over a third characterized their fishing operation as a family business. Surveyed skippers reported an annual average of $60,000 to $76,000 gross revenues from fishing from 1999 through 2001. On average, they depend on fishing income for 80% of their household income. Moss Landing fishing operations represent considerable financial investments. Average vessel purchase price (over the past several decades, unadjusted for inflation) was $119,217, while replacement costs averaged $382,095. Re-sale values averaged only $162,455, however, reflecting concerns about current economic and regulatory conditions in some fisheries. Replacement costs for equipment and gear averaged about $42,000 and $26,000, respectively. Moss Landing fishermen incur significant operating costs that contribute to the economies of Moss Landing, the County, and the many other places they purchase goods and services. A subsample of 18 skippers, primarily representing smaller, less labor- and capital intensive operations, provided data on annual expenditures for 1999 through 2001. Conservatively estimated, that group's average annual expenditures were more than $720,000. Fish Buyers Moss Landing's resident fish buyers, who have 11 to 60 years of experience in the fishing industry, have carved out distinct niches in species received, products produced and markets 2 served. They include one live fish buyer, three CPS receiver/processors, and three multi- species buyers. Three are based at Moss Landing; four are based elsewhere in Monterey County. Although fish receiving is their primary activity at Moss Landing, many are vertically integrated, and are engaged in processing, wholesale, distribution and/or retail operations as well. Most of these other activities occur elsewhere in Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties where necessary space and infrastructure are available. Fish receiving operations at Moss Landing are undergoing substantial change, especially with the opening of the Santa Cruz Cannery Building, the renovation of K-dock, and the planned opening of a restaurant and fish market at North Harbor in Fall 2003. Three of the four surveyed fish buyers provided expenditure data for 1999 through 2001. Their annual average expenditures were nearly $1.5 million at Moss Landing and $11.3 million overall. Fishery-Support Businesses Nine locally based fishery-support businesses provide a diversity of goods and services to the commercial fishing industry at Moss Landing. These businesses include a fuel dock/small marine supply store, a boatyard, a marine covers shop, electrical, diesel, hydraulic, metalwork and other service providers, and a dry storage facility. Other businesses in the Monterey Bay area also support and depend on the Moss Landing commercial fishing industry. The three businesses surveyed have operated at Moss Landing for between 28 and 50 years. They depend on the commercial fishing industry for 18 to 75% of their business. Together, their annual expenditures averaged nearly $650,000 for 1999 through 2001. The Harbor Moss Landing Harbor is an important provider of goods and services to the commercial fishing industry, and the research and tourism communities. It provides berthing and other amenities, and essential services such as dredging. The Harbor has a limited revenue base and aging infrastructure, but is developing strategies and seeking funding for long-term maintenance dredging and dock replacement. It recently completed renovation of the Santa Cruz Cannery Building and adjacent K-dock to support the commercial fishing industry. The Harbor’s average annual expenditures for 1999 through 2001 were about $10 million. Because of the public goods nature of the Harbor’s goods and services, it is difficult to separate expenditures related to the commercial fishing industry from those for other Harbor users. Trends in the Major Moss Landing Area Fisheries Over the long term (1981-2001), the most important fisheries at Moss Landing in terms of ex- vessel revenues have been salmon, groundfish, and highly migratory species (HMS), each with average revenues around $1.5 million per year. More recently (1999-2001), salmon revenues have slumped at Moss Landing (and statewide), while revenues for coastal pelagic species (CPS) reached