Exciting Times at Noyo Harbor
A New Harbormaster and Monthly Fish Market Bring Fresh Energy to the Docks
by Holly Madrigal
Fishing has been in Anna Neumann’s life for a long time. As the new Harbormaster in Noyo Harbor, she may seem young at 32, but her experience belies that. “I was happy being a fishmonger before I was recruited for this job,” says Neumann, who was part of the Princess Seafood Fishing Crew, which has successfully expanded local access to fresh-caught seafood through their market and restaurant. The all-female fishing crew caught rockfish, crab, and salmon all up and down the Mendocino Coast. The new job as Harbormaster keeps Neumann closer to home, and the relationships she made in Noyo Harbor have served her well.
The Harbormaster is “. . . responsible for all the mud within the harbor district,” says Neuman. That means maintaining and managing all the slip fees, supporting the commercial fishing industry centered in Fort Bragg, and facilitating infrastructure projects within the Noyo Harbor District, a special district that is responsible for the Noyo Harbor and the Noyo Mooring Basin. Noyo Harbor is one of the few remaining working harbors between San Francisco Bay and Eureka, and a five-member board meets monthly to guide its long-term planning and operation. Anna Neumann is serving her first year as Harbormaster, and she has hit the ground running. The new Noyo Fish Market is just one of the initiatives she has underway.
The meadow on the South Harbor is the traditional site of the World’s Largest Salmon BBQ on the 4th of July, and it has typically remained quiet most of the rest of the year. But on this bright sunny morning, it’s bustling with the Fish Market, a kind of farmers market for the harbor’s fish catchers. According to Neumann, the idea came out of a brainstorming session to develop more markets for local fishermen, which is one of the Community Sustainability Plan targets. “I’m not sure how I can entice large businesses to come in to buy our fish, but I know that our community buys a lot of local seafood. I know this from working at Princess Seafood Market, where Heather got her start selling her fish off her boat in the harbor. Noyo Harbor has minimal dockside sales, which could be increased. I thought that if we could make an event of it, if you could grab everything you need for dinner right here, it makes it easy,” she adds.
Neumann had heard murmurings in the community that there was a certain shyness and uncertainty about how to access this fresh catch. “Can you just walk up to a boat?” and “Where is F dock?” were common refrains. The idea behind the market is to support the fisherfolk in developing relationships and a customer base. The customer will learn that if A dock is here, then F dock is four docks down, and they’ll find friendly faces. So when there is a fish special, signs can go up around town, and folks will know where to go to get fresh fish.
Local farmers have been encouraged to bring their produce to the market, and craft vendors are selling everything from custom cutting boards to wave-themed art. Live music entertains as a guitarist strums a tune. The aroma of fresh pupusas from a pop-up vendor fills the air. One attendee makes a beeline for a lunch of Fry Bread Tacos before starting to shop. Thanksgiving Coffee, whose roastery headquarters are on the South Harbor, has a table offering samples of the local brew.
Walking the plank to A dock, the boats are lined up, coolers overflowing with the day’s catch. James “Red Beard” Karlonas is filleting a fish for a young family waiting boat-side. The family’s three-year-old watches, fascinated, as James skillfully slices and chops the gleaming scales from a Canary rockfish. “I just went out this morning to catch some fish so that I could make an appearance today,” he says. “Most of the fish I sell are for wholesale. It’s like running a whole other business to sell directly to the consumer.”
James typically sells to fish buyers in the Bay Area, and he also crabs out of Bodega Bay when the season is right. “Dandy Fish Company usually buys all my crab. Up here I catch mostly sablefish, also known as black cod, and those go to San Francisco.” An older gentleman grabs a 20-pound lingcod out of the cooler. He used to captain his own fishing boats off the coast of Fort Bragg, running the Miss Kelley and the Verna Jean for himself, so he doesn’t need it to be fileted for him. He takes the whole fish, packed with ice, even though it doesn’t quite fit in his bag. Red Beard’s ling cod is going for $5/lb today, a deal as far as the old-timer is concerned, since he didn’t have to catch it himself.
One berth down, the Viking is doing a swift business. “This is usually a charter boat,” says Kirk, who runs Noyo Fish Charters as captain of the Viking, “but we haven’t been too busy recently. Maybe it’s the price of gas. Hopefully, recre-ational fishing tours will pick up soon.” They were offering China rockfish and Petrale sole, and Kirk explains, “The sole you have to cook hot, otherwise it will get mushy. The rockfish you can cook in a pan, barbeque, fry it, whatever style you like. These would be better for fish tacos, if that is what you are aiming for.” Lauren, Kirk’s girlfriend, says baking the rock cod is her favorite method.
The Harbor District has 256 slips. Roughly 200 of them are “full-time slips” and 50 are “transient short-terms,” running the gamut from 7-month short stays for the fishing season to ships coming in out of the weather when they need a night. “I try to make sure that every boat that needs a safe harbor gets one. But it is a shuffle,” explains Neumann. There are several key infrastructure improvements needed in the district, such as a fuel dock, which would make boats traveling up and down the coast more likely to stop. Improving the Noyo Ice House business would allow for more rapid chilling of catch and more access for commercial fishermen.
Automobile access to the harbor is an additional challenge. The North Harbor has become a thriving restaurant scene, and the Noyo Center for Marine Science has purchased the old Carine’s Fish Grotto space, with plans to turn it into an educational space, offices, and coffee shop. But the narrow road in and out of the North Harbor causes traffic jams, and it would be easily overwhelmed in the event of an emergency. Geography limits expansion, however, with steep hills to the east and tribal land to the west, so creative solutions will need to be found to move forward with any project to change the status quo.
The Fish Market is a new venture and will take time to develop a following. If the crab season is a good one, then they hope to keep the market going through the winter. A thriving harbor is a key economic driver in this fishing town. Fishing, like any resource-based industry, is at the mercy of environmental and regulatory changes and market fluctuations. Future sustainability will require flexibility and nimble leadership. The new Harbormaster, by supporting projects like the Fish Market, is creating new opportunities for those whose livelihoods depend on the sea.
“If this works, we can expand,” says Neumann. “If it doesn’t, then we will learn from it and move on.” For now, Neumann has her sights set on a new fuel dock and is working with the Harbor District Board to make it a reality. But that is all behind the scenes. For now, you can venture down to A dock on the second Saturday of the month and grab a fresh catch right off the boat.
Noyo Harbor District
South Harbor Drive, Fort Bragg
(707) 964-4719 | NoyoHarborDistrict.org
Photo of Anna Neuman by Mary Benjamin.
All other photos by Holly Madrigal.
Holly Madrigal is a Mendocino County maven who loves to share the delights of our region. She’s fortunate to enjoy her meaningful work as the Director of the Leadership Mendocino program and takes great joy in publishing this magazine.