1 of 3 1942 Dredging in Morro Bay (circa 1942 photographer is unknown)
Image by mikebaird
1 of 3 1942 Dredging in Morro Bay CA. (circa 1942 photographer is unknown) Charlene Odekirk, Rosemary Olszewski asked me to take a photo of present-day 2009 Morro Bay dredging operations from the same perspective as the 1942 dredging photo she showed to me. It was suggested (by Rouvaishyana?) that the two images might be hung together in the Morro Bay Museum of Natural History for visitor interest. I have included a couple of candidate photos, as the current dredging setup barely shows in the image taken from the same point as the machinery is located further out at the Rock and is tiny in the image. I have posted the present-day image candidates at the set at www.flickr.com/photos/mikebaird/sets/72157622715084937/ (I have also included some iPhone shots of the 1942 image just for perspective - they are NOT of reproduction quality). You can download the full-resolution versions of the photos in this set (you may need to login, and select "all sizes") and print it, or click "order prints" and it can be fulfilled online. I turned my printer off over two year ago and now outsource all my limited printing needs to mpix.com or the like. I wanted to suggest that to really demonstrate the changes over time, that the new image(s) not be a print, but simply a photo, or better, a video, displayed in one of those inexpensive LCD digital picture frames that PJ used to promote my Click-Click product in 2008. Anyway, I can't resist pushing people's technical buttons. I have repeatedly suggested that museum displays that are visual only and not consist of palpable or 3-dimensional objects, be rendered via HD programmable LCD displays (a suggestion for the museum improvements committee?). Imagine, exhibits that never fade and can be incrementally improved at no cost! Best! Mike Baird Mike Baird mike [at} mikebaird d o t com flickr.bairdphotos.com
3/14/2012 Copied here are notes from a "Mindwalk" lecture sponsored by the Morro Bay Museum of Natural History, on Commercial Fisheries, that was held March 5, 2012. Thanks to Gwen Infante, Docent Administrative Assistant, for typing up these notes and making them available for everyone.
Morro Bay Commercial Fisheries – Past & Present
Mind Walk Lecture Series, Inn at Morro Bay
March 5, 2012
Rick Algert, former Morro Bay Harbor Director, Presenter
1929 – A dairy town, 2005 – a fishing village
Early Native American middens show evidence of up to 50% sardine & anchovy fishing, 20% surfperch, just considering finfish remains.
1890’s rock quarrying at Morro rock. 1891 – rocks for Pt. Harford. Large-scale commercial fisheries, first in San Francisco then in Los Angeles later in Morro Bay.
East face of the rock was blown off - first attempt in 1891-92 was a dud - involved drilling into base of rock but without much knowledge or engineering.
Early 1900’s – coastal commerce very challenging when Rock was an island. Waves entered Morro Bay from north and south, causing turbulent conditions.
1870’s – A. B. Spooner, the bar pilot, was capsized and drowned.
Early facilities, 1925-29 – wharfs, rail trestle, T piers. Saltwater plunge pool was closed due to poor maintenance by 1930
1930’s – first commercial fisheries for finfish, abalone, oyster mariculture
1930’s, waterfront development from Morro Rock to Tidelands Park. South Jetty-bridge from foot of Beach St. to the Sandspit
1933 – movement to open Morro Bay channel for rowboats
WW II preparedness, Works Progress Administration filled North harbor causeway, built revetment in mid 1930s.
1941 – Japanese submarine sank tanker Montebello off Cayucos, probably also shelled Santa Barbara coastal area.
1942 – proposal to build a submarine base in Morro Bay. Corp of Engineers determined MB not a suitable location
Amphibious training base was put in. Dredge spoils used as fill material. Navy base was built on the Embarcadero.
1961 – Brebes House, 1 smokestack.
1964 – Morro Bay Incorporated
Barbara Stickel, Maritime Historian, 2nd presenter
Abalone landings 1944-1974. Steep decline in 1970’s after peak in 1960s.
Sharks caught for oil. Albacore, rockfish & lingcod
1940-1950’s All other fish (excluding sardines and mackerel) salmon, white sea bass. The Giannini, Cefalu, Ennis, Pierce and Larsen families were the active fishing families. There are Bickford photos of abundant abalone landings.
1950’s - crab fishing began.
1951 – Monterey sardine fishery collapsed
1952 – Dept of Fish & Game found pink shrimp
Lawrence Thomas caught shrimp, opened the Shell Shop, still open today.
Morro Bay north T-pier leased to Monterey cannery. 25-30 sardine seiners in Morro Bay, 100 in Avala. Imagine Beach St. with trucks full of unrefrigerated sardines – ice plant was in Atascadero.
Newport Beach cancelled fishing leases. Harlan Larsen (son of Alex) came to Morro Bay when that happened
1960’s – many new houses, many boats, 1964 tsunami from Alaska earthquake damaged the waterfront.
1970’s – Asian driftnet fishing for squid. Albacore damaged by driftnets. Some local albacore fishermen went as far away as Midway Islands and New Zealand to fish.
ECONOMICS OF FISHING – Henry Pontarelli, 3rd presenter
Billion US, 0 Million CA industry annually
1989-2008 US has become a net seafood importer.
Landings: ex-vessel value = EVV
1990 to present, 160-105 fishing boats working out of Morro Bay. This represents jobs for boat captains, deckhands, dock workers, fish processors, truck drivers, and more.
2003 – last large albacore landings in our area.
Crab – capricious fishery – no definition given but implies that it is unstable.
There is a pattern of limits to trawl & driftnet fisheries
1990 to present, price/lb. has doubled. Live-fish, hagfish, swordfish
CCSGA = Central Coast Sustainable Groundfish Assoc.
US, esp. CA fishery is among the most regulated & compliant fisheries in the world
Morro Bay Community Quota Fund. Strategic plan 2012-2015, foreign vessels must stay outside the 200 mile limit. State limit is 3 miles. There is less enforcement the father one ventures from shore. The goal of the Quota Fund is to set quotas that can be bought, sold, and traded for the Morro Bay/SLO coastal area so that fishery landings will be sustainable over the long-term.
Site of Former Drawbridge, Tri-City Beach Rd over Cedar Bayou, Baytown, Texas 0220101130
Image by Patrick Feller
Until 1983, there was an operating drawbridge at this spot, where Cedar Bayou, as Ash Lake, empties into Galveston Bay. This side is Harris County. The other side is Chambers County.
That hill on the other side isn't a hill. It's the Baytown landfill, the city dump.
I crossed this bridge often, waited at times for shrimp boats to pass.
Though I often had a camera with me, I never stopped to take a picture of this bridge. Recently, I've been trying to make up for that.
Does anyone have a photo of the bridge?
Calamari Giorgio at Paradiso Trattoria
Image by phoenixar
After taking off from Derek's pad, I stopped at Monterey Bay to check out the aquarium. Immediately after stepping out the aquarium doors a seafood craving struck me. I walked down Cannery row with my yelp in hand, furiously thumbing through the best rated seafood restaurants within spitting distance. Bubba Gump Shrimp? Nah! It's a franchise; my appetite was craving someplace more holey.
I started looking at Fish Hopper Seafood and Steaks. Almost the entire restaurant was sitting on stilts... can't go wrong with some fresh O2 while enjoying some prawns right? As I approached the doors, I noticed a guy smokin a cig no less than 3 meters from the entrance. I lost my food boner for this joint and 180ed back to Cannery Row.
As I approached Paradiso Trattoria, the place looked very quiet, ... too quiet. I looked at the menu anyway. The greeter with a chef's outfit (who looked like a young Marlon Brando) approached me and offered a free appetizer with any entree. BINGO! The day's special was under . BINGO! He also said there are plenty of window seating with beach front views. BINGO!
Inside I was greeted with the gentle sound of the waves rolling in to the beach just underneath the windows. A hint of soft jazz complimented the atmosphere. I thought to myself, if only I had a girlfriend with me right now. I'd be gettin' some tonight.
The food: I got the Calamari Giorgio (Pictured here) pasta and calamari were done perfectly, not too hard, not too soft. PERFECT! The sodium however was a bit too much. Thankfully, my iced tea never dipped below 55%!
Bill: Calamari Giorgio .50, Iced Tea $ don't recall, and Tax $ don't recall Total bill .50!
This photo was taken during my weekend trip at NorCal to visit my friend Derek and Co. :-)
Thursday, July 22nd
Image by Gregula
Thursday, July 22 - Santa Margherita
Lodging: Sleeper train at night headed back to Roma.
Santa Margherita, late tonight (1:10am) headed back to Roma.
We woke up before 8:00 AM. Erica took a shower before breakfast, and we both headed up to the terrace of the other building for the usual breakfast. When Italians talk about breakfast, we guess they really mean a bunch of bread with various spreads and strong coffee. I am not so crazy about breakfast away from the states. Even the places that advertise American Breakfast do not come close truly. Nothing like Bob Evans for a true American Breakfast.
We settled the bill with Roberto after breakfast and he let us know we could keep our luggage in our buildings living area or salon until we departed for the station. He said he would arrange a taxi for us if we wanted to leave for the station after the last bus (about 8:00 PM). Considering the station is basically a bare buidling next to three sets of tracks, we opted for the taxi. We did not get a chance to let Roberto know before he headed to town and no one else in residence could understand enough English to let him know.
Erica voted for staying in Santa Margherita for the day instead of getting to and hiking around Cinque Terre (even though we here it is the best part of Italy). We headed back to the room, Gregg took a shower and we both packed up. We put our luggage down in the living room, probably close to 11:00 AM. We then started down the trail of many steps into Santa Margherita.
What to say about our day in Santa Margherita.... Well... we tried to get on to the Internet to upload more journal entries with no success. The one place we tried would not let us plug the laptop into their connection; they said the laptop was not compatible with their connection. ???
Erica had seen an inexpensive place to eat while Gregg was trying the Internet place. Gregg was hungry so we went ahead to the restaurant. We enjoyed Margherita pizzas (magnifico!), water and cappuccinos. The bill was somewhere around 17 euro. Not bad.
We then walked and walked, and walked some more. We went all around Santa Margherita, Gregg says three times. Erica wanted to do some shopping and a little town sightseeing. Unfortunately, we really started our attempt at shopping when most businesses were closed for their siesta (afternoon break).
After a very long day of walking around and around and around, we decided we had time for dinner before trying to catch the bus to San Lorenzo, up the hill from Villa Gnocchi. We went to Ristorante de Michele (or something like that) and had a lovely dinner. Gregg wanted the insalata, potatoes, and he had ravioli in bolognese. Erica helped Gregg with the insalata and potatoes and had linguini with shrimp in a curry sauce. Erica had some beer and we both had water. Yummy!
We then went to find a big bottle of water before grabbing the bus. Erica saw the bus before we finally found a big bottle of water to take with us. (We paid more for the water than we wanted to, but it still was better then what we have paid in the past, 2 euro.) We then crossed the street to the bus stop. It was about 7:25 PM and we soon deduced that we had missed the last #73 bus from that stop. We had two options, take a taxi or hike up the trail - super stairmaster. We knew we were taking a taxi to the station and we knew that would cost about 20 euro. Gregg did not want to waste any more money so he voted to walk up the super stairmaster again. Erica was agreeable either way. And so we went...
What a climb! When we arrived at Villa Gnocchi we planned on hanging out in the salon until the taxi arrived and play around on the laptop, check out our pictures, perhaps watch a movie... We saw a family of guests arrive as we were walking on the drive and Roberto was coming out to greet them. We helped with the luggage and talked a little with Roberto about arranging the taxi for late that night. He offered, if we wanted to save some money, he would be going into town to visit his children around 10 or 10:30 PM and he would be willing to take us to the station. How nice! We jumped on his offer and offered him some money, but he said he was going anyway, no bother. How nice!
So...we hung out in the salon and worked on a picture DVD of our Italian Adventure thus far. It is going to be pretty cool and will help us remember all that we have seen. After a while it really starts to blend all together!
Roberto came to the salon sometime after 10:00 PM to take us to the station. We packed up and went with Roberto. Italian drivers are so much more aggressive than even Gregg! Erica kept thinking - if only Heather could see this!
Then we got to hang out at the station for about three hours until our train came. We played with the laptop some more, worked on the DVD more, took some pictures, downloaded the pictures from that day, etc.
