The following was submitted by:
Nicole David
Marine Biologist
Half Moon Bay
Harbor District Should Reconsider
We are extremely fortunate in San Mateo County to live on the shore of the beautiful Pacific Ocean, which provides a bountiful supply of fresh local seafood that offers excellent nutrition and a low carbon footprint. The fishing industry it supports greatly benefits the County economy, including the many fishing families of Pillar Point Harbor, the stores, markets, and restaurants that sell fish, recreational fishermen, tourism, and more. The San Mateo County Harbor District also benefits directly from revenue generated from these activities. Unfortunately, the District is mismanaging this source of revenue. The District has imposed the highest fees in California on the companies that buy fish from fishing boats and then distribute them to stores, markets, and restaurants. Ultimately, these high fees are passed on to consumers. These high fees also reduce the profits for the fishing businesses, and drive fishing boats to offload their catch in rival ports in San Francisco and Monterey. In response to the sharp criticism from fishermen and from the public last year, the Harbor District limited public participation by suspending its video coverage of their biweekly meetings - a decision they reversed eight months later.
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The Harbor District should work to promote this valuable and sustainable sector of our economy. The District should reconsider its fee structures to promote (rather than discourage) the use of its facilities, provide fair treatment of all fishing companies on Johnson Pier, and make decisions that are in the public interest by soliciting and carefully considering public input.