Making Humboldt Bay a Port of Regional and National Significance

With Larry Oetker, Humboldt Bay Harbor District: The Harbor District is working with local, state, and federal partners to revitalize the port and attract clean, green, and modern industries that are a good fit for our region. Learn about plans to expand aquaculture, broadband, wood products and offshore wind opportunities around Humboldt Bay.

The tidelands, bays, and estuaries of Humboldt County have unique and diverse management needs. The Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District was created in 1973 to address these needs. The District oversees planned development of the harbors and ports within the District, as well as protection of the natural resources located here. It is a countywide agency with permit jurisdiction over all tide, submerged and other lands granted to the District, including all of Humboldt Bay.

One of California’s most pristine estuarine environments, Humboldt Bay is the second-largest natural bay in the state. It presents a wide variety of unique habitats–such as open water, shallow water, mud and sand flats, salt marshes and ponds, agricultural lands, sand beaches, islands, and woody riparian vegetation. The Bay is home to approximately half of California’s eelgrass population, as well as 35 managed species of fish. In total, the Bay supports 120 species of fish, 251 species of marine birds, 550 species of marine invertebrates, 80 species of algae, and numerous resident and visiting marine mammals.

District operations focus on three primary areas: commercial use, recreational use, and conservation. These operations are managed by a staff of employees and are governed by an elected board of commissioners.

Larry Oetker is the executive director of the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation, and Conservation District. Taking his experience as a former land use planning, building, economic, and redevelopment director for the City of Arcata, Larry has been working to expand aquaculture, broadband, wood products and offshore wind opportunities around Humboldt Bay. Prior to working for the Harbor District, Larry was the community development director for the City of Arcata and managed the Hoopa Tribal Environmental Protection Agency. Larry has lived in Humboldt since 1989 and is a graduate of Cal Poly Humboldt.

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