The City of Morro Bay has finalized an agreement with local fishing organizations for the use of generous donations made to repair the Commercial Fishermen’s Dock.
The City Council approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Morro Bay Commercial Fishermen’s Organization and the Joint Cable-Fisheries Liaison Committee, on how to spend some $800,000 in donations made by the organizations to repair one of the main offloading facilities for the commercial catch.
“The MOU,” reads a report from Harbor Vitality Director Chris Munson, “will establish the requirement by MBCFO for the use of $800,000 toward the Harbor Commercial Fishing Dock Repair Project and by the City to dedicate the lease site solely to commercial fishing industry use for a period of 30 years.”
Locking down the dock for the commercial fishing industry was the main selling point and the Harbor Department will benefit as well.
“The City will not directly receive the grant funding,” Munson said, “but will indirectly benefit from a lease site in good repair, an improved asset, and sustained commercial fishing.”
The old dock, which has offloaded fish seemingly forever, is a vital resource. This agreement for the extensive repairs it needs comes on the heels of the City inking a long-term lease with a local company.
The Harbor Commercial Fishing Dock is the main offloading area for wholesale fish in Morro Bay,” the report said. “In March 2026, the City entered a 20-year lease agreement with Morro Bay Seafood Company to operate the facility. The prior tenant, Morro Bay Fish Company (Santa Monica Seafood) had partially completed repairs to the pier structure below the lease site.”
In the lead-up to the MOU, the Harbor Department asked the Liaison Committee, another commercial fishing organization that gets its money through an agreement with undersea cable companies, to do an assessment of the damage that still needs to be repaired and any new damage, “in the hope that JCFLC would help fund the repairs. The damage was much more extensive than originally discovered, estimated at $817,700 to repair.”
Last year, the MBCFO and the Liaison Committee had made big donations to the City to help with the dock repairs. The CFP donated $400,000 and the Liaison Committee $150,000. Those donations came with a catch — the City had to designate the lease site for commercial fishing uses only. And since the two big donations fall short of what’s estimated to be needed, the Liaison Committee is stepping up once again with another $250,000 donation, Munson said.
“The Harbor commercial fishing dock is in dire need of repair,” Munson said. “It’s continued existence and operation are vital to continued commercial fishing in Morro Bay. The cost of the project makes the repairs infeasible for the leaseholder to complete without assistance.”
Those costs would be tough for the Harbor Department to cover as well, considering it has identified tens of millions of dollars in repairs to harbor facilities — including the rock riprap that holds back the bay waters -— up and down the Embarcadero.
It also has a big project to rebuild the public boat launch ramp on its plate, among numerous others.
The Liaison Committee has helped out the City before.
“JCFLC has been a key ally to both the City of Morro Bay and MBCFO,” Munson explained. “They have donated over $175,000 directly to the City, which includes $40,000 for the Harbor Patrol Vessel Replacement and sending a delegation to Washington D.C. for over 20 years. They have also donated over $840,000 towards the Morro Bay Ice Facility. They continue to support MBCFO and Central Coast Women for Fisheries. Morro Bay Community Quota Fund is graciously using some of their revenue to support the effort as well.”
That Washington D.C. trip is for the Annual California Marine Affairs and Navigation Conference or C-MANC, the annual lobbying trip City officials — usually the mayor and harbor director — make to lobby the Army Corps of Engineers to include Morro Bay Harbor Mouth dredging in its annual schedule of work for the dredge ship Yaquina. It’s also a chance to meet with local House members and Senators, and bureaucrats from different agencies to bring to their attention Morro Bay’s infrastructure needs.
The Fishermen’s Dock sits in the middle of the Measure D planning zone, the area north of Beach Street that is reserved primarily for commercial and sport fishing needs.
That voter-approved initiative means any new development or redevelopment that increases the footprint of an existing use has to be connected to commercial fishing or sport fishing.
Though the lines have been smudged a bit over time — for example the new docks at Morro Bay Landing are not exclusively used by commercial fishers — for the most part it has been adhered to.
Allowed uses include fish markets, such as the one at Dockside Too and the sport landing operation at Morro Bay Landing. But for example is someone wanted to build a new restaurant on a lease site in that area, they would have trouble winning approval.
These restrictions are permanent unless or until another voter initiative is approved that changes them.
Locking down the Fishermen’s Dock for 30 years is in keeping with Measure D and in keeping with the City’s notion of being a working waterfront.
