Fishing Community Field Trip for HSU Students

On November 2, 2017 Dr. Laurie Richmond's Humboldt State University Coastal and Marine Planning class visited Eureka's waterfront to learn about the issues related to the fishing community and to see some of the working waterfront infrastructure up close and in person.

The field trip started with a walking tour of the waterfront that started at the ruins of Dock B and made stops to talk about the Eureka Public Marina, the EDA Plant, the Commercial Dock, Humboldt Fishermen's Marketing Association, the burnt down ice plant, Coast Oyster, and the gear storage area at the Fisherman's Terminal Building (FTB). The tour was led by FCSP researcher (and planner for the City of Eureka) Rob Dumouchel.

At the FTB we met up with Jeff Huffmon from Wild Planet as well as Jeff Raimey and Donald Wilkes from the City of Eureka's Harbor Division. Jeff H. shared his perspective as someone who has working on the water in Eureka for the last four decades. He also gave us a tour of Wild Planet's operations at the FTB. Jeff R. and Donald were there to talk about ways the City of Eureka works with the fishing community to provide both services and space to conduct their operations.

Our field trip wrapped up on Woodley Island. The class participated in a planning exercise where they identified needs and recommendations for the future of the fishing community. The class was later joined by D. Ray Pemberton, a local commercial fisherman. D. Ray answered student questions about his industry and gave comments and feedback on student recommendations based on his experience as a fisherman in Eureka.