FISHERS SAY ‘YES’ TO WYDEN-SMITH GROUNDFISH BUYBACK
Vote clears way for buyback to help fishers leave overcrowded fishery

October 30, 2003

Washington, DC – U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) today announced that the West Coast groundfish fishing community approved, in a referendum, the $45.75 million groundfish capacity reduction or “buyback” program. This final approval clears the way for 92 groundfish trawl vessels and their 240 fishing permits to permanently cease fishing. The intent of the buyback is to reduce the number of West Coast fishers to sustainable levels by assisting fishers desiring to retire from the fishery. Wyden and Smith wrote the law that established the program in response to the January 2000 disaster declaration in the overcrowded West Coast groundfish fishery.

“This vote is an important step toward improving the long-term economic viability of West Coast fisheries,” said Wyden. “I was pleased to work alongside Oregon’s fishing community so that fishers themselves could decide on the buyback and the future of their industry.”

“The fishing industry is an essential part of Oregon’s economy that so many families depend on to provide for their basic human needs,” said Smith. “This vote brings us closer to bringing much needed relief to Oregon’s fishing families while protecting the environment.”

Notification of the payments is expected to be published in the Federal Register on November 4. Thirty days hence, the 92 vessels whose owners’ bids were accepted during the bidding phase, along with their 240 fishing permits, will no longer be eligible to fish anywhere in the world.

Of the total $45.75 million buyback, $35.75 million is a loan that will be paid back by the fisheries. The amount each fishery will pay back is based upon how much the fishery benefits from the buyback. Fisheries seeing the greatest amount of fishing capacity removed will pay back a larger portion of the loan. The remaining $10 million is in the form of a grant.

Eligible members of the West Coast groundfish fishing community cast 1,105 votes in the referendum. The votes of permit holders were then weighted according to the portion of the loan their fishery would pay back. After weighing, the final tally was 193 votes for the buyback and 31.8 votes against. Only a simple majority of weighted votes were required for approval.

The fisheries included are the West Coast groundfish fishery (except factory trawlers in the whiting sector and fixed gear fishers) and the pink shrimp and Dungeness crab of Oregon, California and Washington State. Requiring retiring fishers to relinquish their pink shrimp and Dungeness crab permits in addition to their groundfish permits will prevent capacity shifting from the groundfish fishery to other fisheries. The pink shrimp and the Dungeness crab fisheries, in particular, could be seriously affected if capacity was shifted from the groundfish fishery to these fisheries.

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