By Samuel Strait, Report at Large Normally this time of the year so shortly after the beginning of the Dungeness Crab season the Crescent City harbor is bustling with frantic activity as commercial fishermen get the last of their crab gear loaded and into the waters off Crescent City. The fuel dock is busy and boats are normally lined up to deliver fresh crab to the buyers scattered around the harbor. Not this year though. It is as if something has happened and nobody quite knows what to make of it. Most of the larger boats are gone. Many of the mid sized to smaller boats are remaining at the dock as if some storm or bad weather was brewing off shore. There are few trucks in the inner basin's parking lot, and no one seems to be working on their vessels in preparation. The crab buyer's hoists are unencumbered and no semi's await at the docks for fresh crab. Our local fish processors show no activity. On the surface it appears that no one got the memo that crab season is one of the most important yearly events for local commercial fishermen as well as it is for those from further a field. Typically millions of pounds of fresh crab cross the docks in the first week of the season, and Crescent City gets a welcome mid winter boost to its economy. Many of our local fishermen fill their bank accounts meant to last over the slow times in between seasons. So, what is going on? The fact of the matter is that this year's crab population is either on vacation somewhere else, or there simply isn't many to be harvested in the first place. Seems strange after two consecutively good seasons, 2018 and 2019, that this season should be so poor, particularly after a year of bad economic news due to government mandates over the Covid-19 virus. Not something that any one should be pleased about. The money from commercial fishing has gradually declined over the past couple of decades, where it once was a huge part of the local economy. Shrimp, rock cod and salmon have also felt the bite of less than prosperous seasons, hopefully it is not the same story for Dungeness crab fishing. What also comes to mind is that our local harbor's health is entwined with commercial fishing and poor landings reflect poorly on the harbor's financial health. Granted the harbor can lean on the income from 2018's passage of Measure C, but it appears that the harbor has not factored in lean times from commercial fishing and has spent money on projects that less reflect the harbor's commercial fishing which is important as well. When Measure C was passed the harbor talked about loans outstanding and a massive outlay necessary for deferred maintenance in the harbor. I wonder where all those good intentions went in the face of solar panels and charging stations? The Crescent City Harbor appears to have become separated from its original mission to be a functional working harbor instead of the current board's dream of the Santa Cruz Board Walk. Ferris wheel any one? Unfortunately poor fishing seasons and smaller landing may be a sign of the future as well as the decline in revenue that the harbor receives from it, yet until commercial fishing is pronounced to be dead and buried, the harbor board should be focused on, or pretend to be focused on the "working" part rather than the seasonal tourist trade.