Love seafood? You can now buy fresh fish directly off boats in Morro Bay
Morro Bay fishermen are selling fish off their boats.
Tom Hafer, president of the Morro Bay Commercial Fishermen’s Organization, said that he and other commercial fisherman plan to sell fresh seafood directly to customers starting Friday to help make up for lost income.
Business is down due to restaurant closures and overall lower demand for fish during California and San Luis Obispo County’s shelter-in-home order, which eliminated dine-in eating.
Hafer said that customers will be able to come to boats docked in Morro Bay on certain days of the week, possibly Saturdays, to buy fish including salmon, crab and rockfish.
The commercial salmon and rockfish fishing season opens up Friday, Hafer said.
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Fishermen sell salmon, rockfish in Morro Bay
According to Hafer, some local fishermen have permits through the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to sell fish off their boats.
The city of Morro Bay has an existing policy that allows commercial fisherman to sell off their boats in their city slips, said Eric Endersby, the city’s Harbor Department director.
Because the fisherman can’t fillet fish, buyers will be purchasing them whole.
“We’ll be telling people to bring ice and a cooler for the days we sell, which might be one or two days a week,” Hafer said. “People love really fresh fish and we’ll offer that to them.”
Hafer said that he expects salmon to go for about $10 to $12 per pound, which a “way better deal than you get in the market.” Pacific rockfish, also known as rock cod or Pacific snapper, will likely cost about $6 to $10 per pound, he said.
Hafer said that fishermen in Half Moon Bay have been selling off their boats for a long time, but that practice hasn’t been as common in Morro Bay. Hafer said that fishermen in Half Moon Bay have been selling off their boats for a long time, but that practice hasn’t been as common in Morro Bay. Morro Bay commercial fishermen traditionally make as much by selling their catches to distributors, who then haul off the fish to eateries in Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
“Rather than selling off the boat, we’d rather be out fishing, but we just can’t do that right now, though I hope things get back to normal relatively soon,” Hafer said. “Before, whatever we caught would be gone (on distribution trucks) right off the dock once we got in.”
At the Morro Bay docks, “We’ll have workers with masks and gloves and taking Venmo purchases to keep people safe,” Hafer said. “We’ll take cash from those who don’t have Venmo, because we know some people won’t have it.”
Lori French, who operates a business with her husband Jeff and her brother-in-law, John, said they are still contemplating whether to sell off their boats. But they’re “80% leaning towards doing so,” she said.
They still have to obtain a permit from the state and a certification for a scale from the San Luis Obispo County Department of Agriculture’s Weights and Measures program.
“For us, it’s uncharted territory,” French said. “Last year was a great year for salmon off Morro Bay. A lot of it was trucked out to Bay Area and Los Angeles. This year, we don’t know what those markets will use. It’s kind of a wait and see game.”
Seafood market owner says business down 50%
Giovanni DeGarimore, owner of Giovanni’s Fish Market in Morro Bay, said he’s buying as much fish as he can to help supply his market, retail and online businesses.
Overall business is down 50% because of the coronavirus pandemic’s impacts on restaurants, he said, although his online sales are booming.
“I have people from Pennsylvania and Texas buying up fish,” DeGarimore said. “We deliver to every state. Website sales are seeing an increase.”
DeGarimore said he has had to lay off 10 workers, and applied for a Paycheck Protection Program loan so he can keep people working. But that’s in limbo.
“I haven’t heard back on that yet,” DeGarimore said.
This story was originally published April 20, 2020 at 3:14 PM.
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