Who harvests seafood from San Diego Bay, and why?

Results of recent interactions with recreational pier fishers in San Diego Bay

Map of three public fishing pier survey sites.

From the summer of 2018 through the spring of 2019, our team (photos at the bottom of this page) frequently visited three public fishing piers in San Diego Bay - Shelter Island, Embarcadero, and Pepper Park (see map) - to survey seafood harvesters in order to get a sense of the motivations behind seafood harvest in the bay.

Embarcadero pier on a Tuesday morning in October (top); Pepper Park pier on a Saturday morning in January (middle); Shelter Island pier on a Wednesday night in October (bottom).

Patterns of Fishing

The majority of the fishers we encountered were using rod and reel to catch fish (see graphs below). Much less common, yet of interest to us, were shellfish harvesters, most of whom primarily targeted California spiny lobster using hoopnets. Of the 61 shellfish harvester interviews we conducted, 50 were from the Fall, during the first few months of recreational lobster season (September 29, 2018 - March 20, 2019).

Embarcadero pier on a Tuesday morning in October (top); Pepper Park pier on a Saturday morning in January (middle); Shelter Island pier on a Wednesday night in October (bottom).

Shelter Island Pier was the most popular for lobster hoopnetting, followed by Embarcadero and Pepper Park, where we only encountered one hoopnetter during our year of surveying (see graphs below). Hoopnetting usually occurred at night and was generally more popular in the Fall (vs. Winter), closer to the start of lobster season. On average, hoopnetting parties consisted of 1-2 people, with a total of 1-2 nets per party.

Hoopnetters were always outnumbered by rod and reel fishermen, who were most active in the Summer (least in Winter), and on weekends (vs. weekdays). On average, rod and reel fishing parties consisted of about 2 people, with a total of 2-3 rods per party.

Stay tuned for more information on the results of our surveys with shellfish harvesters!

alt — Average number of fishing parties per gear type present on each pier at various sampling times, from summer 2018 through spring 2019. N=1 sampling event for all weekday and weekend time periods in all four seasons, except for nighttime sampling periods in fall and winter, which occurred more frequently. In the fall, number of weekday and weekend night sampling events ranged from 5-7 for each pier. In the winter, n=5 sampling events for both weekday and weekend nights at all three piers.

alt — Most of the San Diego Bay field team (from left to right: Gizelle Crisostomo, Nina Venuti, Lupita Barajas, Kristy Nguyen, Charles Adams, and Lupita Sandoval). Each team member is involved in ecological surveys of shellfish that are available to the public, and connecting with pier fishers to find out more about patterns of harvest and consumption of the bay’s resources.