$14.2 million. That’s what Humboldt County’s commercial fishing fleet brought in during 2025, according to preliminary landing data from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The number represents an 18% decline from $17.3 million in 2024 and continues a downward trend that has cut fleet revenue by nearly a third since 2021.

The drop hits every major species. Dungeness crab, traditionally the county’s most valuable fishery, produced $7.1 million in ex-vessel revenue (the price paid to fishermen at the dock), down from $9.4 million in 2024. Salmon brought $1.8 million, down from $2.6 million. Rockfish and other groundfish species generated $3.2 million, roughly flat. Shrimp, albacore, and miscellaneous landings accounted for the remaining $2.1 million.

Crab: late start, early finish

The Dungeness crab season opened December 23, more than five weeks later than the traditional December 1 start. The delay was caused by elevated domoic acid levels in pre-season testing, a recurring issue along the North Coast that has pushed openings later in four of the past six seasons.

Late starts compress the season. The bulk of crab revenue comes in the first six weeks after opening, when crab are fattest and prices are highest. A December 23 start means the peak window falls in January and early February instead of December, when holiday demand pushes dock prices above $5 per pound. By the time Humboldt boats were dropping pots, the holiday market was over.

Dock price for the opening was $3.25 per pound, the lowest opening-day price since 2019. It climbed to $3.75 by mid-January as supply tightened, but the damage was done. Total crab landings at Humboldt ports came in at approximately 1.94 million pounds, down from 2.51 million in 2024.

Salmon: closures tighten

Commercial salmon fishing out of Humboldt ports was restricted to 18 open days in 2025, down from 24 in 2024. The Pacific Fishery Management Council set the season based on Sacramento River fall-run Chinook abundance forecasts, which remain depressed.

The result: 42,000 pounds of Chinook landed at Humboldt harbors, compared to 61,000 pounds the prior year. Average dock price was $12.80 per pound, down slightly from $13.40.

“You can’t make a season work in 18 days,” said Marcus Littlefield, a salmon troller who has fished out of Trinidad for 22 years. “I burned $4,200 in fuel. I grossed maybe $11,000. Take out gear, bait, ice, moorage, and I’m looking at, what, three grand for the season? My truck payment is more than that.”

Fleet economics

Fuel is the other story. Marine diesel at Woodley Island averaged $5.42 per gallon in 2025, up from $4.98 in 2024 and $4.31 in 2023. For a typical 42-foot crab boat burning 25 gallons per trip, that’s an additional $1,100 per month in fuel costs compared to two years ago.

Insurance costs have climbed as well. Commercial fishing vessel insurance premiums in Northern California rose an average of 9% in 2025, according to the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations.

The Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation, and Conservation District reported that active commercial fishing vessel registrations dropped from 127 in 2023 to 108 in 2025. Nineteen boats gone in two years.

“We’re losing the middle of the fleet,” said Harbor District Commissioner Jack Irons. “The big boats with crab permits and quota shares can still make it work. The small boats doing day trips, salmon and rockfish, they’re getting squeezed out.”

What the district is doing

The Harbor District approved a $120,000 marketing initiative in February aimed at promoting locally caught seafood through direct-to-consumer channels. The “Humboldt Caught” branding program will launch this spring, with participating fishermen selling directly at farmers’ markets and through a new online ordering platform.

Irons called it “a start, not a solution.”

“The fundamental issue is that the resource is constrained, costs keep going up, and the fleet is shrinking,” Irons said. “Marketing helps. But it doesn’t fix the crab season starting in January or the salmon closures.”

CDFW’s final 2025 landing data is expected in May. Preliminary numbers are based on fish ticket reports through December 31 and may be revised upward by 3% to 5% as late-reported tickets are processed.