Commercial fishers, suffering through one of their worst regulatory years ever, got three pieces of potentially good news in recent days. The federal government took the first step toward cash aid, while a Fort Bragg salmon fishing group sued the federal government to get part of the season back, and a Klamath River utility announced it may remove several dams from the troubled river.
A declaration of a commercial fishery failure last Thursday by U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez is the first step toward cash financial relief for fishermen from San Francisco to Oregon.
The federal failure declaration, the first since 1992 to come before the end of a fishing season, includes figures showing revenues for the season at 15 percent of their average in California.
The virtual elimination of salmon season is as a result of drops in the numbers of salmon returning to the Klamath River. The ocean off Fort Bragg has been yielding big catches all year for sport boats, but the commercial fishermen, who travel farther and catch more, were identified as having too much contact with salmon from the Klamath to allow more than a week of salmon fishing late in the year. Fish being caught locally are mostly from the Sacramento River, but the fish mix in the ocean.
Congress will now be able to move forward in seeking up to $80 million in disaster aid that has been slowed for lack of declaration. Currently, Small Business Administration loans are available to those in the industry, but now direct aid is being sought.
The declaration was immediately lauded by the governors of California and Oregon, along with most of California”s congressional delegation.
“Despite this massive step forward, there is still a tremendous amount of work that needs to be done to help these families get back on their feet and restore one of Northern California”s most important industries,” responded Congressman Mike Thomspon to the failure finding.
“First, we must appropriate the funds needed to help the thousands of families who lost their livelihood. Next, we must take steps to restore the salmon population by ensuring a clean and adequate supply of water. Over the coming weeks, I will be working closely with my colleagues in the House and Senate to ensure these funds are appropriated as quickly as possible.”
Praised on one hand, Gutierrez (as part of the federal government) is being sued on the other by the Fort Bragg-based Salmon Trollers Association, a group still hoping to have a season longer than a week.
The lawsuit challenges the science and logic of blaming commercial fishermen for the problems on the Klamath River, believed to be caused entirely by water diversions, dams and other habitat problems on the river.
Mendocino attorney Editte Lerman, who filed the suit for the Salmon Trollers, pointed out the contradiction between the federal government giving fishermen disaster relief on one hand and saying the season closure does not cause irreparable harm on the other.
“They are talking out of both sides of their mouth,” Lerman said.
“The government is skapegoating onto the fisherman habitat problems. Whatever number of fish are caught, there is not enough water to sustain the river.”
The Salmon Trollers” lawsuit includes a request for a restraining order or injunction to extend the salmon season beyond the one week now set for September.
U.S. attorney Kevin Ryan argues that the Salmon Trollers have not submitted evidence of irreparable harm and criticizes the request to extend the season as having been filed too late to be practical. No court date had been set by presstime
In addition to the actions to take pressure off fishermen, there was potentially good news for salmon from the Klamath River.
The announcement by dam owner PacifiCorp that it may remove four dams is the solution to the warm, pest-infected waters of the Klamath that Indian tribes, environmentalists and fishers alike have long sought.
The four dams, which are scheduled for relicensing this year by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, cause an increase in water temperatures and reduction in gravel areas needed for spawning for king and silver salmon as well as oceangoing steelhead trout. Warm water is lethal to salmon and also spurs growth of toxic blue-green algae.
The Commerce Secretary made his announcement during a conference call with Thompson, U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer of California, Gordon Smith and Ron Wyden of Oregon, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski and members of both states” congressional delegations.
“The partial closure of salmon season has created severe economic hardship for California”s vital salmon industry and the communities along the coast,” according to a statement by Schwarzenegger.
“Since May, salmon fishermen have averaged a mere 9 percent of their seasonal catch. This extremely low number has resulted in less than 15 percent of their average revenues. These numbers cause great concern as the impacts of this season could impact the industry for years to come,” the governor said.
