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From the living room window of their waterfront home, Carol and Tony Anello have watched the rise and fall of Bodega Bay. Traffic on Westshore Road flows past in waves, fishing boats pull into the docks and throngs of visitors line up at Spud Point Crab Co., their restaurant next door. Launched more than 20 years ago and known for its chowder and Dungeness crab rolls, the restaurant has helped make the Anellos beacons of the community.

It has also served as a life raft as they left the commercial fishing business.

“I had a premonition that the fishing industry was going down,” said Tony Anello, who fished commercially for salmon, crab and herring for 54 years before selling his boat Anabelle last year. “There are guys dropping out of this industry like flies, and I’m one of them.”

At Bodega Bay and other picturesque seaside villages along the California coast, the fishing economy is gradually sinking.

The latest blows came earlier this month: Commercial harvest of Chinook salmon was banned in California for the third consecutive year because of low populations, and the state’s Dungeness crab fishery has been severely restricted in an effort to protect humpback whales from entanglements. Sportfishing for salmon — a valuable industry and a beloved pastime — also was prohibited for two straight years, and will be severely cut back this year to what may amount to a single weekend in June in Northern California.

Now coastal towns that once relied on freshly caught seafood are finding ways to adapt. In Bodega Bay, fishing has increasingly taken a backseat to tourism and the draw of souvenir shops and art galleries, saltwater taffy, waterfront dining, vacation rentals and a backdrop from Hitchcock’s “The Birds.”

Tourism is “the lifeblood of this town now. It’s not fishing,” Tony Anello said. He nodded to the line of boats moored at the harbor — elaborate rigs that can cost the price of a Bay Area home. “All the boats are in. What are they fishing for? Niente. Nothing.”

Tony Anello, left, and Carol Anello, owners of Spud Point Crab Co., shown at the family restaurant in Bodega Bay. “There are guys dropping out of (the fishing) industry like flies, and I’m one of them,” Tony Anello said. Photo by Florence Middleton for CalMatters

When the salmon closure hit two years ago, sportfishing charter boat operator Ty Taube’s revenue stream was cut almost in half. To compensate, he has shifted much of his business from Bodega Bay to San Francisco Bay, where he now rents a second berth in Richmond and takes his clients fishing in the spring and summer for halibut and striped bass.

“Bodega Bay now has very little to offer,” he said.

Tourism is “the lifeblood of this town now. It’s not fishing. All the boats are in. What are they fishing for? Niente. Nothing.”
— Tony Anello, restaurant owner and former commercial fisherman.

Mike Long, who ran a Bodega Bay fishing charter company on his boat Miss Vic for eight years, said Chinook salmon fishing used to drive a frenzy of local activity.

“Bodega Bay, back in the day when the salmon were running … was an absolute party. People were camping, having fun,” he said. “From a fishing standpoint, Bodega Bay has become a ghost town.”

Lucrative salmon harvests — sometimes exceeding a million fish in a season — and a robust population persisted through the mid-2000s, before the fish seemed to cross a tipping point, collapsing almost to extinction in 2009. Experts say the harvests were sustainable but that Delta water diversions, loss of river habitat and poor ocean conditions are driving the collapse of the past 20 years.

The Anellos fondly recall those banner days of their youth, and the fishery’s prime, rehashing stories of big days on the water and unloading the catch in port.

“I remember saying, ‘My God, is there a bottom to this boat? The fish just kept coming up and coming up,” Carol Anello said.

At nearby boat ramps, the traffic jams of the salmon season are a thing of the past, at least for now, though a trickle of skiffs still comes and goes, mostly targeting either crab or rockfish. Some anglers come to fish from shore.

“Bodega Bay, back in the day when the salmon were running … was an absolute party. People were camping, having fun. From a fishing standpoint, Bodega Bay has become a ghost town.”
— Mike Long, captain of the charter boat Miss Vic.

Abalone, and the kelp forests they live in, also have almost vanished, the victims of overfishing and climate change. Banned in 2018, diving for abalone was a recreational attraction for decades that brought visitors and cash flow to remote North Coast communities.

A small fleet of party boat services, including Taube’s vessel Dragonfly, Pole Dancin’ and New Sea Angler, still keeps a presence in the harbor, but some don’t fish as much as they once did. Some are turning to cruises, whale-watching and ash-scattering voyages to replace lost fishing opportunities.

Visitors to the town still expect seafood, and they still get it — but many menus feature products farmed or delivered from faraway waters, including clams, oysters and shrimp.

Local Dungeness crab has become more expensive — a boon to fishers — but it remains plentiful, even when the season ends, thanks to freezing and thawing on demand. Salmon has dropped off most local menus.

Crab pots used to catch Dungeness crab in Bodega Bay. The industry has been restricted in California waters because of entanglements with humpback whales. Photo by Florence Middleton for CalMatters

At Fishetarian Fish Market, co-owner Shane Lucas supports local boats but must lean on imported catch. This market-cafe at the south edge of town on a recent day was selling farmed New Zealand Chinook salmon under their display case, and it may shift later to wild salmon from the Pacific Northwest. Rockfish, though locally available, mostly comes from Oregon, simply because local hook-and-line commercial fishers don’t catch enough to meet his needs.

Oysters are a plentiful local product, with their crushed shells mashed into the asphalt and picnic grounds throughout town. But they are mostly farmed — not fished — in nearby Tomales Bay. Lingcod and halibut remain seasonal catches, along with albacore tuna and some bluefin, too.

Nothing, however, matches the value and cachet of Chinook salmon, also known as king salmon.

Last fall, restaurants countywide collaborated with Bodega Bay fishers and the county tourism board in a promotional push dubbed “Black Cod Week.” The idea was to promote the buttery, soft flesh of locally caught black cod, also known as sablefish, as a stand-in for salmon.

“They were looking for an alternative fish that is highly sustainable, with lots of them out there,” said Patty Ginochio, owner of Ginochio’s Kitchen on the northeast shore of Bodega Bay, explaining that black cod is oily but delicious.

“We offered black cod tacos in lieu of the salmon tacos that we would normally have been offering,” she said. Ginochio, who has not served salmon since California’s season was shut down two years ago, also served smoked black cod.

“No matter what you do, it’s not king salmon,” she said.

Untangling whales and crabs

At least for now, Dungeness crab remains a valuable fishery, though seasonal catches range wildly. 2022 saw one of the poorest statewide harvests in 40 years. 2023 was a huge year, 2024 less so and this year another bummer.

“It’s been horrible,” said Bodega Bay commercial fisherman Dick Ogg on a recent morning as he prepared to offload and sell one of his last Dungeness crab hauls of the season at Spud Point Marina, across the road from the Anellos’ restaurant.

First: Boats in Spud Point Marina in Bodega Bay. Last: The menu at the Fishetarian Fish Market in Bodega Bay. Photos by Florence Middleton for CalMatters

Tourists Kim Derr, left, and Sylvia Derr from Bishop pose for a photo outside the Fishetarian Fish Market in Bodega Bay. “Gonna order crab for sure,” said Sylvia Derr. “That’s the only reason I came here.” Photo by Florence Middleton for CalMatters

Ogg, who has fished out of Bodega Bay for 25 years, said profitability of crab fishing has declined, contributing to attrition in the statewide fleet.

“The gear has gone from $50 a pot to $350 a pot, plus the rope is more expensive. The regulations are more stringent, and the time we get to fish has been condensed down to three months,” he said. “If you sit back and look at what’s happening, it’s getting to the point where you just can’t make a living.”

The West Coast’s Dungeness crab population is generally booming, and landings have soared since the early 2000s. 2024’s catch of 14 million pounds was worth $50 million, and 2023 saw the eighth largest catch — 21 million pounds — in the past 45 years.

But new regulations have constrained the fishery, including trap limits and frequent season closures. This year, the Dungeness fishery opened late — in January — and state officials announced last week that they are shutting it down early, on May 1, in much of the state.

Dungeness crab fishers work the waters off Marin County. Off San Mateo County, a humpback whale feeds on anchovies near a recreational angler. Video by Andrew Bland for CalMatters

The complicating factor is whales — particularly humpbacks, which are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act and routinely become entangled in ropes that connect floating buoys to crab traps on the seafloor. These synthetic lines can slice deep into their skin and blubber and, when attached to heavy traps, exhaust and drown the giants.

Entanglements have increased in the last decade following a change in feeding activity that has concentrated the animals closer to the California coast, especially from spring through summer.

“The regulations are more stringent…It’s getting to the point where you just can’t make a living” off Dungeness crab.
— Bodega Bay fisherman Dick Ogg.

Since about 2014, reported entanglements have averaged several dozen per year. Last year, 31 humpbacks were reported snagged in fishing gear off the West Coast.

“We know that we’re only observing maybe 10%, maybe 20% of the entanglements,” said Catherine Kilduff, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity.

About 84% of entangled humpbacks may die or suffer serious injury as a result, according to an estimate by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Shifting gears: Can an old industry learn new tricks?

Commercial crabbers are collaborating with environmental groups, including Oceana, to develop whale-safe crab gear that involves no unattended vertical ropes in the water.

They have experimented with a system reliant on compressed buoys fixed to each trap and which inflate by remote control, lifting the cage to the surface with no rope. Another model relies on a buoy spool coiled with rope and fixed to the sunken trap, then released via remote control. When the spool surfaces, the fishers, standing by, retrieve it and their gear.

The concept for each is brilliant, but the problem that manufacturers have struggled with is reliability. Ogg, who has tried some of these methods, said they fail too frequently to be trusted. While advocates have cited a 98% reliability figure, Ogg said it’s lower, likely less than 90%.

Ogg plans to move ahead with a whale-safe system in which he drops a line of crab traps strung together on a single rope, then retrieves the array later by snagging it with a grappling hook dragged over the bottom.

Bodega Bay fisherman Dick Ogg on his boat in the Spud Point Marina. Photo by Florence Middleton for CalMatters

First: Live Dungeness crab on Ogg’s boat. Last: Crab pots used to catch Dungeness in Bodega Bay. Photos by Florence Middleton for CalMatters

Ogg thinks this alternative gear system could represent the future of crabbing, allowing fishers to bypass seasonal bans on conventional gear implemented when whales are near.

Retrieving gear via grapple hook takes at least twice as long per trap, Ogg said. “It’s a pain in the butt, it’s hard to do,” he said.

But maybe worse, he said, is snagging a whale. “Nobody wants to interact with an animal other than the targeted species.”

Boom and bust of salmon

For Taube, the glory days of the North Coast salmon fishery are just a few years gone. Taube launched his fishing charter service in 2019, cashing in on several good years. Sometimes, he said, fishing was hot enough just outside the Bodega Bay harbor that he was able to run two trips daily, each with about a half-dozen customers.

“We would do a morning trip, and we’d do an afternoon trip … it was easy fishing,” said Taube, owner of Reel Obsession Sportfishing, which features a 34-foot boat named Dragonfly.

Those were the days when salmon season traffic jammed up the bay’s boat ramps, when wait times could be an hour and early morning tempers sometimes flared. All morning, commercial trollers, private skiffs and charter boats like Dragonfly funneled out the mouth of the harbor, where they dispersed across the water.

Often, the fish were barely a mile outside the Bodega Bay harbor mouth, with clouds of anchovies darkening the electronic screen of the dashboard “fish finder,” feeding whales surging in all directions and the salmon quick to strike a bait.

“If we catch the quota quickly, then it could be done in a day or two. It’s not going to make a difference in the 100 (salmon sportfishing) trips or so that we used to run.”
— Ty Taube, captain of the charter boat Dragonfly.

This year, the tradition will resume — but perhaps for just one weekend. Recreational anglers have been allocated a sliver of a season for the first time since 2022. Fishing will begin June 7, and while multiple weekends are designated for fishing, there is a catch: a 7,000-fish quota.

“If we catch the quota quickly, then it could be done in a day or two,” Taube said. “It’s not going to make a difference in the 100 trips or so that we used to run.”

Along part of the Central Coast, a second fishing window, with a 7,500-fish quota, will open in September.

In the historical context, such numbers are almost nothing — what a single commercial boat might catch in a season. “Total averages (in the 1970s) would be about 80 fish a day,” Tony Anello said.

Long left the fishing business when the salmon closure took effect two years ago. Now — like many other boat operators — he runs the Miss Vic to cash in on alternative guiding opportunities.

“We do whale-watching trips now,” he said.

Graphs depicting past abundance show a towering wall of California Chinook through the 1980s and 90s. In the record year of 1988, ocean harvest in California — commercial and recreational combined — amounted to nearly 1.4 million salmon, the best year on record. Even after that huge harvest, more than 200,000 fish returned to the Sacramento River to spawn that fall and in 2002, more Chinook swam into the Central Valley than ever recorded before — about 900,000 adults.

Salmon abundance plunged off a cliff in the late 2000s, and it has never recovered. Just 140,000 adults migrated up the Central Valley’s rivers last year, and that came after two years with essentially no harvest.

Return of the salmon

A salmon rebound would change everything, and it’s something state officials are calling for.

“We are hell-bent … pushing as hard as we can, because we hate the idea of a future California without salmon,” said Chuck Bonham, director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Some positive signals, maybe suggesting a comeback, are emerging from the watersheds where salmon spawn — due, Bonham says, to the state’s restoration efforts as well as the record wet year in 2023. Wet winters increase river flows, which help juvenile salmon reach the ocean, and can be a precursor to salmon rebounds. Bonham is optimistic that next year will see a bump. Already, numbers of spawning endangered coho salmon in coastal watersheds jumped last winter to several times the recent historical average.

In the Sacramento River, premature returning Chinook — two-year-old males known to biologists as “jacks” — returned in very large numbers last fall. That could reflect a swelling population in the ocean.

A major victory was recently scored in the Klamath basin, where four dams were removed from 2023 to 2024. Already, Chinook are reported to be entering spawning habitat that was inaccessible for decades, and experts and local tribes anticipate a revival.

“We are hell-bent … pushing as hard as we can, because we hate the idea of a future California without salmon.”
— Chuck Bonham, director of California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife.

Bonham said a state policy of “cutting the green tape” has allowed faster movement on projects to rebuild habitat features like wetlands and floodplains, mostly in the Central Valley. Another new state policy allowing project developers to pack multiple project permits into a single approval has helped the state make progress on salmon restoration work.

“Just last year, we streamlined the approvals for 60 important projects related to salmon,” he said. “We don’t have a chance to dink around and take 20 more years.” We need “more good projects faster and cheaper,” he said.

Fishery experts and advocates say the state is not doing enough to save salmon. Scott Artis, executive director of the Golden State Salmon Association, an industry group, said the state has failed to guarantee that Central Valley rivers contain adequate cold water for salmon. He said reservoirs are drained too early, which depletes the supply of cold water essential for successful spawning, and too much water is pumped to farms and cities to the south.

“Dead salmon don’t use habitat,” Artis said. “So if we kill all the salmon because there is no water, are we really creating habitat and allowing them to use it?”

Relics of a thriving industry

At Bodega Bay, an old fishing pier, succumbing to saltwater and wind, is falling to pieces and is no longer accessible.

The local ice machine, installed at the Spud Point Marina in the 1980s, is in disrepair, too.

“It’s long past its life expectancy,” said Noah Wagner, marina supervisor for the Sonoma County Regional Parks Department, which operates the facility. “We’re very concerned that we’re going to have a catastrophic failure that necessitates a complete replacement of that ice house during one of these really important seasons for the salmon or crab.”

Officials with the state and county visited last year, part of an ongoing quest for funding to modernize the ice house, which is the only one of its kind between San Francisco and Fort Bragg, Wagner said. “All the fishing boats and the processors … rely on this ice house, so it’s vitally important to the fleet,” he said.

A fishing boat, Condor II, is docked at Bodega Bay. Photo by Florence Middleton for CalMatters

While the community thrives on the bustling tourism economy, many residents and business owners are worried about the town’s fishers.

Waves of Compassion is a local nonprofit that, among other things, helps struggling commercial fishers in and around Bodega Bay with food, clothes, laundry money, dog food and other items that Ginochio, a cofounder, says many fishers increasingly cannot afford.

Lucas, at Fishetarian, sees a gray future for the local fishing economy.

“It’s sad because my grandfather was a commercial fisherman, but I don’t think there will be a commercial fisherman left here in 10 years,” he said. “They’re going to be all gone. To support a family in California as a commercial fisherman, you’ve got to be doing something else.”

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Dozens of California violence prevention and victim service programs, including ones to protect survivors of domestic violence and end sexual abuse in jails and prisons, are facing devastating cuts after the Trump administration abruptly pulled funding from them.

“These programs literally save lives – not just for the victims, but for our entire communities,” said Tinisch Hollins, executive director of the nonprofit organization Californians for Safety and Justice. “When they go away, we lose a safety net.”

The U.S. Justice Department last week slashed grants that were initially valued at $811 million. In California alone, the department cut just over $80 million, the majority of which was for groups based in Los Angeles, Oakland and San Francisco, according to a U.S. Justice Department document obtained and published by Reuters.

The organizations might have already spent some of the grant funding, which typically lasts for three years, and it’s unclear how much the administration clawed back. They have 30 days to appeal the decision. The U.S. Justice Department did not respond to repeated attempts to confirm the list of affected grant recipients in California.

In a statement to CalMatters, Justice Department spokesman Gates McGavick said, “Under Attorney General (Pam) Bondi’s leadership, the Department of Justice is committed to ensuring its resources are spent on arresting criminals, getting drugs off the streets, and crucial litigation. We will always protect victims of crime and legitimate law enforcement initiatives, but we will no longer spend millions on ‘listening sessions’ and ‘bridging socio-ecological contexts.’”

California officials rejected the Trump administration’s characterization of the grants, and described the programs as critical.

“The Trump administration is recklessly disregarding the safety of the people it is sworn to serve,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta in a statement to CalMatters. “These resources are not optional luxuries, they are essential, and critical to ensuring the security and stability of our communities nationwide. My office will do everything in our power to stop the potentially deadly consequences of freezing federal funding.”

Representatives from three organizations that lost money told CalMatters they were committed to continuing their programs, and they stressed that they provide vital services to vulnerable people.

In Oakland, the nonprofit organization Youth ALIVE! lost its $2 million grant to support the nation’s first hospital-based violence intervention program. The organization’s staff appear at the hospital bedside of youth who have been violently injured in order to help them navigate their recovery and prevent retaliatory violence.

Through ongoing support such as mental health and housing services, the organization maintains that it can break cycles of violence. Last year, it served 113 clients, only one of whom was injured again.

“It’s an essential part of the ecosystem, because you need to be in specific places to help quell violence and help people heal,” said Dr. Joseph Griffin, executive director of Youth ALIVE! “It’s about increasing the health of the community.”

When he learned that the organization had lost its funding, he said he was in disbelief.

“It’s not an impact that we can absorb lightly,” he said. “Replacing $2 million is never easy.”

A banner hangs on a wall in the Youth ALIVE office in Oakland on April 28, 2025. Youth ALIVE!, which aims to break the cycle of violence in Oakland, is one of the many California organizations impacted after the U.S. Justice Department terminated more than $800 million in grants to justice-focused organizations. Photo by Florence Middleton for CalMatters

Elsewhere in Oakland, the organization Impact Justice lost $8.5 million in grant funding.

“This was a sledgehammer,” said Alex Busansky, its founder and president.

The organization was awarded a $4 million grant to expand opportunities for reentry housing for people returning home from prison. It also received three grants totaling $4.5 million to support its work in eliminating sexual abuse and sexual harm from confined facilities, such as prisons and jails.

“To take that away puts the most vulnerable people in a much riskier and potentially harmful situation,” Busansky said.

Asian Women’s Shelter, one of three domestic violence shelters in San Francisco, lost its $500,000 grant to support Arab survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking through connecting them with legal and social services.

The competitive grant had only been awarded to five organizations last year, according to the Asian Women’s Shelter’s communications and community engagement specialist, Saara Ahmed.

“The irony is that the reasons given by the Justice Department is that they’re shifting funding toward law enforcement to combat violent crime and trafficking. But violent crime and trafficking affects survivors so there’s a lot of contradiction,” Ahmed said. “It’s a matter of asking: Whose safety and security are they prioritizing?”

On April 25, over 600 local, state and national organizations, including the Asian Women’s Shelter, signed a letter to Attorney General Bondi expressing “deep concern” over the Justice Department’s federal funding decisions, including the canceled grants.

“This longstanding bipartisan commitment to supporting services and prevention efforts for victims of [domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking and trafficking] remains strong; however, the Department’s recent actions have left these critical lifesaving programs uncertain about their ability to continue serving victims,” advocates wrote.

The San Francisco District Attorney’s Office also lost a grant in the culling. “It is heartbreaking to see funds cut for such critical work,” said San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, whose grant supported at-risk youth and young adults from underserved communities.

“Public safety, at its core, is fewer victims of crime overall. And as a government, we cannot simply be reactionary,” she said. “We have to do the front end, proactive work so that people don’t feel the need to get involved in crime in the first place.”

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Cayla Mihalovich is a California Local News fellow.

Ines A. Boldrini
August 15, 1937 - April 24, 2025

Ines A. Boldrini, nee Senestraro, passed away on April 24, 2025, at the age of 87. She was residing at First Choice Care Home in Fortuna. She had lived in Humboldt County for 65 years.

Ines A. Boldrini was born on August 15, 1937 in Creola D’Ossola, Italy, daughter of Celestino and Anita Senestraro.

Ines immigrated to the United State in 1957, with mother, father and sister, and settled in San Francisco before moving to Humboldt County in 1959. In 1961 she married Sandro Boldrini in Italy who then came to America and started work as a dairyman for Gene Senestraro in Elk River. Ines and Sandro moved to Ferndale in 1970, where they started their own dairy business, which is currently owned and operated by their youngest son Frank.

Throughout Ines’ life she worked the family farm alongside Sandro, caring for calves, chickens and gardening. Ines was a disciplined homemaker who thoroughly enjoyed all kinds of arts and crafts. Ines was known as a great cook and her homemade Italian dishes are still talked about fondly by family members. Later in life, Ines enjoyed providing loving care and support for her four grandchildren. She was an avid competitive bowler and participated in numerous state and national tournaments in Las Vegas, Nevada in the early 1990s.

Ines was a member of Church of the Assumption in Ferndale and a frequent volunteer for the annual church bazaar.

Ines was preceded in death by her husband of 51 years, Alessandro Boldrini. Ines has three children, Robby Boldrini (Sue Ewy) West End, N.C.; Sandy Pedrotti (Donnie) Eureka; Frank Boldrini (Renee Alexandar) Ferndale. Ines has four grandchildren, Kelly Roach (Wyatt) Eureka; Lauren Pedrotti, Burlington; Kyle Pedrotti, Eureka; Baylee Boldrini, Fortuna, and one great-grandchild Clara Roach. Sister, Albina Stagnoli, Bend Oregon, nephews/niece Paul, Dan, and Rina Stagnoli.

There are no services planned. There was an inurnment where she was placed beside Sandro Boldrini at Sunset Memorial Park in Eureka.

“We will always carry your memory in our hearts.”

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Ines Boldrini’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.

John Dennis Wentworth passed away peacefully at home on April 7, 2025. Dennis was born on May 3, 1950, in Willits. He and his brother Robert were fraternal twins and shared many childhood memories. His parents were John and Bernadette Wentworth.

After his family moved to Eureka, Dennis graduated from Eureka High School, class of 1969. He made many lifelong friends during his high school years. After high school, Dennis joined the Navy and was trained as a cook. He was assigned to submarine duty and spent time in the Pacific and off the coast of Vietnam.

After returning home, Dennis sharpened his cooking skills working at Angelo’s Pizza, where he was the manager. Looking to increase his income, Dennis then began working for various car dealerships in Eureka. His outgoing personality suited him well in this profession. Looking for more independence, he started his own business, “Mow and Blow Lawn and Tree Service,” which he worked at until his health started to fail. In his younger years he had a passion for surfing with his buddies Mike Niekrasz and Mike Coropassi. Sometimes his lawn business was put on hold as he and his friends snuck off to surf.

Later in life Dennis took up sailing. He became very competitive racing in Humboldt Bay, Whiskeytown, Lakeport and Big Lagoon. He was a member of the Humboldt Bay Yacht Club and served as the Commodore.

Dennis leaves behind the mother of his two boys, Sally Schick, his wife of 24 years, Dorothy Wentworth, sons Tyler (Amber), Jason (Brittany), his foster daughter Reanna, his stepsons Jeff and Nick Comer, as well as 18 grandchildren.

He was predeceased by his brothers Robert and Larry Wentworth as well as his parents John and Bernadette Wentworth. The family would like to extend a special thank you to Hospice of Humboldt who provided wonderful care and support in his final days. A thank you also goes out to his care provider, Eslys Salazar, and the local veterans network, who provided support.

There will be a memorial service at the Elks Lodge on Herrick Ave. June 8, 2025, from 1 to 3 p.m.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of John Wentworth’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.

Jim Byford Jr. was born to Cecelia (Fraley) and Jim Byford in Fortuna. He grew up in Fortuna and was the youngest of three siblings.

While growing up in Fortuna he connected with many people, making lifelong friends. They made many memories together on Perras Court.

After he graduated highschool he moved to Yreka to help his mom take care of his Grandma Mary. He was always ready to lend a hand. While he lived there he had two children with Theresa (Pannell) Howard. His oldest was Jim Byford III (Sonny) and the youngest was Emma (Byford) Bal.

He touched many lives in Siskiyou County. He was a bus driver, an ice truck driver, and also worked at Nor-Cal. He had a twisted sense of humor and always said what was on his mind. You knew he was in the room by his boisterous laugh.

Later on he moved back to Fortuna. He was able to reconnect with many of his old childhood friends as well meeting many new people.

He was a hard worker right up until his death. In his spare time he would ride motorcycles with his many friends and family. He also enjoyed taking walks with his dogs at the old airport. His dog “Bean” went everywhere with him.

He is preceded in death by his mother, Cecelia (Fraley) Johnson, his father Jim Byford, his sister Nancy Byford, his grandchildren Kyle, Leeann and Trianna. He is survived by Jim Byford III (Sonny), his wife Danielle, their children Emilee, Kaylah and Jaxson, Emma Bal, her husband Sam and their children Xyla, Willow, Nancy and River, his sister Elizabeth Pitek, her Husband Mike and her children.

His celebration of life will be held on May 4, 2025 at the Fortuna Veterans Memorial building from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

David Wayne Smith, age 81, passed away on April 17, 2025, in Ferndale.

He was born on August 12, 1943, in Albany, New York, to Albert A. Smith and Martha V. Welter, and was preceded in death by his parents and his sister, Carrol E. Smith (Earl).

David was formerly married to Deb Oliver. He had no children, but is survived by his nephew, Scotty Smith Jenkins.

David had a remarkable and diverse career. He was a NASA engineer and was involved in the Apollo program. Beyond his work with NASA, David also had a significant impact in the music industry as an audio engineer, collaborating with numerous iconic artists such as Billy Joel, Black Oak Arkansas, Lionel Richie, B.B. King, Ray Charles, Journey and so many more.

Later in life, he also shared his love of music as a radio DJ, audio engineer, and program manager for KMUD in Humboldt County. David was also a natural inventor, always exploring new ideas. In his leisure time, David enjoyed soaking up the California sunshine and loved getting a good tan and cruising in his convertible.

David will be remembered for his brilliant mind, his passion for music and innovation, and his kindness towards others. Though a private man, he was always supportive and shared his knowledge generously with those around him. There will be no formal services held.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of David Smith’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.

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Those of us who live in earthquake country tend to have two primary anxieties about the unsettling events: the shaking itself (collapsed roofs, crumbling buildings, etc.) and a tsunami (giant wall of water, ‘nuf said). However, a newly published study invites us to adopt an altogether new earthquake-related fear: rapidly sinking land.

The study, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), found that a major earthquake along the Cascadia subduction zone will likely cause between 1.6 and 6.5 feet of sudden subsidence long the Washington, Oregon and northern California coasts. 

This abrupt land sinkage would dramatically raise the relative sea level of coastal communities in a matter of seconds. In the worst-case scenario, the subsidence would more than double the flooding exposure of coastal residents, structures and roads. And those risks would remain long after the shaking settles.

“This lesser talked about hazard is going to persist for decades or centuries after the earthquake,” the study’s lead author, Dr. Tina Dura, told NBC News. “The tsunami will come in and wash away and it’s going to have big impacts, don’t get me wrong, but the lasting change of the frequency of flooding … that’s going to have to be dealt with.”

Such damaging events have already happened elsewhere on the globe. Earthquake-driven coastal subsidence followed recent earthquakes in Chile, Alaska, Southeast Asia and Japan, resulting in such severe consequences as permanent land loss, widespread infrastructure damage and forced relocation.

These risks are exacerbated by climate-driven 21st century sea-level rise. In some communities along the coastal Washington, Oregon and northern California, the effects of sea-level rise are somewhat moderated by gradual coastal uplift. In fact, coastal uplift rates exceed the current rate of sea-level rise in such places as Astoria, Ore., Port Orford, Ore., and our neighbor to the north, Crescent City.

Humboldt Bay residents aren’t so lucky. Here, the study’s authors note, “complex regional tectonics are causing gradual subsidence, resulting in the highest recorded Pacific-coast RSLR [relative sea-level rise] rate of 4.7 [millimeters per year].” In other words, the ground beneath our feet is slowly dropping as the water rises.

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The study defines a “major earthquake” as a magnitude 7.7 to 9.2, and while that may sound unlikely (knock wood), scientists were able to discover how often they occur by radiocarbon-dating plant fragments preserved within pre-earthquake peat or overlying mud. The results? There have been 11 such “great earthquakes” along Cascadia’s coasts over the past 6,000-7,000 years. They hit roughly every 200 to 800 years.

The most recent “great earthquake” along the Cascadia subduction zone struck in 1700 — more than 300 years ago. The CSZ is a major offshore fault line running from Northern California to British Columbia.

The authors of the new study warns that coastal flood hazard analysis often overlooks the risk of sudden earthquake-triggered land subsidence. 

“This study underscores the need to consider combined earthquake and climate impacts in planning for coastal resilience at the Cascadia subduction zone and globally,” it says.

The combined effects of earthquake subsidence and climate-driven sea-level rise could more than triple the flood exposure of residents, structures and roads in the next 75 years, the study found. The coastal areas at risk are home to airports, major highways, wastewater treatment facilities, businesses and homes.

County leaders recently completed a Sea-Level Rise Adaptation Plan for Humboldt Bay/Eureka Slough Area. It advocates “an incremental approach” to planning, using various “shorter-term actions” to reduce immediate risk and buy time for more ambitious “longer-term actions” to address future conditions. It does not appear to contemplate the possibility of long-term projections becoming a reality all at once.

Tsunamis along the Cascadia Subduction Zone can be triggered in a mega earthquake when the Juan de Fuca plate is rapidly pushed underneath the North American plate, displacing massive amounts of water. That same movement can cause coastal land to suddenly drop, according to Dura, an assistant professor in geosciences at Virginia Tech.

If that happens, she recently told the San Francisco Chronicle, “All the sea-level rise you expected by 2300 is going to happen in minutes.” 

You can download the study and read it for yourself via the link below. The study was funded by the Cascadia Region Earthquake Science Center, part of the National Science Foundation.

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DOCUMENT: Increased flood exposure in the Pacific Northwest following earthquake-driven subsidence and sea-level rise

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NOTE: This post was updated on April 29 to add the maps and bar graphs.