Shelter Cove, CA Fishing Community Sustainability Plan

The Shelter Cove Fishing Community Sustainability Plan (FCSP) is the product of a strong collaborative partnership among the fishing community, Humboldt State University, civic leaders, elected officials, and local business owners and operators. The project was funded by a generous grant from Saltonstall-Kennedy Grant Program, awarded in September of 2016. The FCSP is a powerful example of the Shelter Cove fishing community’s capacity to establish key partnerships, identify opportunities and constraints, procure funding and engage in strategic planning. The FCSP culminates with a list of Recommendations which reflect the highest priorities needs aimed at the success and resilience of the fishing industry. The project takes much of its strength from including the perspective of the commercial, recreational and commercial passenger industries as well as broad cross section of the community. The project kick-off took place in December 2016 and was characterized by an extensive community engagement process which included the formation of an Advisory Committee and meetings in May 2017 and September 2018, a Public Workshop in June of 2017 and site visits and personal interviews throughout June, July and August of 2017. The final report will be presented to the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors, Humboldt Bay Harbor Conservation and Recreation District and the Resort Improvement District. The Shelter Cove FCSP will ultimately be presented to the Pacific Fisheries Management Council (PFMC), the regional governing body for federal fisheries. FCSPs are identified in the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries and Conservation Act (MSA), primary federal fisheries policy, as a requirement for communities that wish to remain eligible for Limited Access Privilege Protocol Programs. The Shelter Cove fishing community saw this as an opportunity to fulfill the tenets of MSA and develop a FCSP that characterizes Shelter Cove by addressing the needs and unique synergy among commercial fishing, recreational fishing and the Commercial Passenger Fishing Vessel (CPFV) industry. At the community’s discretion, the report is referred to as a Fishing Community Sustainability Plan or FCSP and identified as such throughout the report