Printer
Friendly Version
West Coast Senators Urge Disaster Relief for
Fishing Communities
July 11, 2006
Washington,
DC – In the wake of a declaration of fishery resource disaster
off the Western U.S. coastline, the Senators from California,
Oregon and Washington joined forces today to urge $73 million
in relief for affected fishing communities.
The six Senators,
Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Gordon
Smith (R-Ore.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and
Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), sent a letter seeking the funds to Senators
Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and Robert Byrd (D-W.V.), chairman and
ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Senators
Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) and Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), the chairman
and ranking member of the Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations
Subcommittee.
Their request was based on an
earlier letter received from Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski and
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger urging assistance. (copies
of that letter are available upon request)
“I am deeply concerned
about the families and businesses hurt by the nearly complete
closure of the salmon fishing season,” Senator Feinstein
said. “Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez declared a
fishery resource disaster last week to help provide relief to
the affected fishing communities. That was an important step forward,
but much more needs to be done. I am determined to work closely
with my colleagues to bring critical assistance to the area.”
“We have salmon
fishermen in crisis,” Senator Smith said. “Help is
needed now. Support to pay bills, keep food on the table, and
maintain infrastructure. We risk losing the entire industry if
action isn’t taken quickly. Assisting the fishermen until
water conditions can be improved is a must.”
“Time is running out
for our coastal communities and our salmon fishermen and businesses,
who are paying the price for this Administration’s mismanagement
of the Klamath River. With so many hundreds of California families’
livelihoods on the line, we will take this fight to the full Senate
to get needed disaster relief as soon as possible,” Senator
Barbara Boxer said.
“Folks in our coastal
communities are watching Washington, D.C. like never before, waiting
to see if they’re going to get the help they need to survive
this disastrous salmon fishing season,” Senator Wyden said.
“At a time when businesses are already closing, we need
to act quickly to address the immediate financial needs of our
fishers and the communities that depend on salmon for their livelihoods.”
The following is the text of
the letter from the six Senators:
“Last week, Secretary
of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez declared this salmon fishing season,
in the states of California and Oregon, a fishery resource disaster.
We are writing to seek your immediate assistance in providing
disaster relief funds to the affected Oregon, California and Washington
fishing communities.
The Secretary declared a fishery
resource disaster in response to the federal government's April
28th decision to severely limit commercial salmon fishing at Point
Falcon in Oregon to south of the Monterey Bay in California.
For the third consecutive year,
the number of naturally spawning Klamath River Chinook salmon
is expected to fall below the conservation floor called for in
the fishery management plan for salmon. As a result, the Pacific
Fishery Management Council (the Council) closed commercial salmon
fishing this season along more than 400 nautical miles, stretching
from Florence, Oregon to Pigeon Point, California.
This is the largest fishery
closure ever on the West Coast and is already having a devastating
impact on our rural, coastal economies. Over the last month, we
have heard repeated accounts from our coastal communities of businesses
closing and people missing mortgage, lease, and electricity payments.
There are 1042 salmon trollers in the affected area, and thousands
of fishermen whose livelihoods have been taken away from them.
The Governors of Oregon and
California have sent you a letter estimating that the impact to
Oregon's and California's coastal communities will be $81 million.
The States are contributing their own resources to help, $5 million
in grants from the State of California and $3.2 million from the
State of Oregon. These State contributions, however, still leave
an unmet funding need of $73 million to avoid a financial disaster
for fishermen and women and their communities on top of the natural
disaster that the Secretary of Commerce has declared. Given the
Secretary's declaration, we believe that this constitutes an emergency.
Last month, the Senate passed
legislation (Sec. l14(c) of S.2012) that makes salmon fishermen
and supporting businesses in Oregon and California eligible for
direct assistance. This is an important step toward bringing relief
to our coast, but funding is still needed. We request your help
to provide immediate disaster relief to the affected communities
in our states.
Thank you for your time and consideration of our request. Please
do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or comments.”
# #
#