Metrics

This indicator measures changes in groundfish landings and revenue at the state and port level. Port groups represent combinations of individual communities based on geographic proximity.

Analysis

Baseline: Before Catch Share Program

Pre-catch share program patterns of groundfish landings and revenues between states varied over time. California dominated the groundfish trawl fishery in the early to mid-1980s (1982 revenue: over $61 million in $2016), but earnings began to drop precipitously by the late 1980s. Oregon became the focal point for groundfish trawl fishery revenue in the 1990s (1995 revenue: nearly $62 million) and has since remained dominant. During the project baseline period, Washington usually had the lowest revenue from the groundfish trawl fishery (between nearly $8 million and just over $11 million), although by the early 2000s, California groundfish revenue had dropped to a similar level.

The changes in groundfish trawl fishery landings and revenue across states can be attributed in part to changes in the landings of different groundfish species. Relatively high-value species such as boccacio, chilipepper rockfish, and thornyheads were the source of a large amount of fishing revenue to California ports in the early 1980s. However, the decline in abundance of those species, together with a decrease in the size of California’s non-whiting groundfish trawl fleet due to the vessel and permit buyback program in 2003 and increasingly restrictive management measures aimed at rebuilding overfished stocks (Management Framework), caused the substantial drop in groundfish landings and revenue in California ports.

Conversely, Pacific whiting provided increased revenue to Oregon and Washington ports as the shorebased fishery for that species developed through the 1990s and 2000s. Approximately 58 percent of the landings of shorebased Pacific whiting during the 2002-2010 period occurred in Oregon ports, with Washington ports accounting for 37 percent during that period, and California ports accounting for about 5 percent. Only a small portion of the annual Pacific whiting harvest was taken in California, as the stock has a limited window of availability off the northern California coast due to its northward migration in late spring.

The relative importance of individual ports in the groundfish trawl fishery was also affected by the consolidation of West Coast processing groups that followed an earlier expansion in the processing industry (Seafood Dealers and Processors). Groundfish landings and revenue shifted toward those ports with expanding processing plants and highly-developed shoreside support services. By 2010, for example, Astoria and Newport together accounted for around 35 percent of total non-whiting groundfish revenue and 60 percent of total Pacific whiting revenue.

During Catch Share Program

California continued its decades-long trend of declining groundfish landings during the first five years of the Shorebased IFQ Program. In particular, landings of Pacific whiting in Eureka and Crescent City effectively ended after implementation of the catch share program due to the consolidation that occurred in the shorebased Pacific whiting fleet following catch share program implementation and the shift of the Pacific whiting fishery away from northern California (Number of Active Vessels). However, some California ports experienced an increase in non-whiting groundfish revenue. In particular, a boost in the landings of sablefish and thornyheads led to a substantial increase in non-whiting groundfish revenue in Morro Bay, especially in 2011 and 2012 when sablefish prices were high. The increase was due in part to fishermen engaging in gear switching and making sablefish landings using fixed gear (Financial Viability of the Fishery: Landings).

After implementation of the Shorebased IFQ Program Oregon saw increases in the overall value of groundfish landings as a result of the higher Pacific whiting landings that accompanied increases in the shorebased Pacific whiting allocation (Financial Viability of the Fishery: Landings). Newport and Astoria had become the dominant port areas for Pacific whiting processing during the baseline period, and their dominance increased during the first five years of the catch share program. After program implementation, average annual landings and revenue of non-whiting groundfish also increased in Astoria (21 and 14 percent increase, respectively, relative to the project baseline period), while non-whiting groundfish landings and revenue in Newport fluctuated. The volume of non-whiting groundfish landings declined in Coos Bay. Both Newport and Coos Bay experienced a reduction in the number of vessels delivering non-whiting groundfish during the first five years of the Shorebased IFQ Program (Vessel Activity by State and Port Group). A number of complex, often interrelated, factors have contributed to declines in vessel activity and attendant landings and revenue in the non-whiting groundfish fishery since the catch share program began (Financial Viability of the Fishery: Landings).

The increases in the Pacific whiting allocation also led to upturns in groundfish landings and revenue in south-central Washington ports that are processing centers for Pacific whiting in that state. However, northern Washington ports that had historically been delivery sites for at least low volumes of non-whiting groundfish did not receive landings of those species during the first years of the catch share program.