Ice House Buoying NorCal Coastal Economy, Cuisine Readies For Refit With $2.78M – Patch

Ice House Buoying NorCal Coastal Economy, Cuisine Readies For Refit With $2.78M  Patch

Officials secured federal and state money to replace aging equipment vital to keeping NorCal catches, coastal economy, and tradition alive. BODEGA BAY, CA — At the Spud Point Marina, ice shoots through a four-inch hose by the ton, keeping fishermen’s catches fresh for the trip from boat to dinner plate. Behind that flow, aging machinery has kept workers hunting for obsolete parts and fielding midnight breakdown calls. Now, after roughly two decades of effort, officials have secured the money to replace an ice house that helps sustain Bodega Bay’s fishermen, supply its seafood businesses, and keep its working waterfront afloat. Federal and state funding will pay for a $2.7 million project to replace Spud Point Marina’s aging ice house, whose breakdowns threaten fishermen’s ability to keep their catches fresh and deliver them to market and that runs on a refrigerant since banned in California.

Without the facility, fishermen would have to travel to San Francisco for ice, said Dick Ogg, a fisherman and president of the Bodega Bay Fishermen’s Marketing Association. He was standing in front of the aging building on Bodega Harbor surrounded by elected officials, park managers, marina workers, and coastal conservation officials. To his right stood the ice house, painted in a light blue hue that matches what is produced there, and whose stature disguises the importance