More than 100 commercial, recreational and tribal fishermen came to a Monday rally in support of commercial fishing at Pier 47 in San Francisco, according to media reports. Some trolling boats also attended, displaying more banners, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
The Mendocino Coast Congressman, Mike Thompson, took the occasion to announce a bill he has authored that would aid commercial fishermen and related businesses.
Reps.Thompson and Lynn Woolsey announced the bill together at the rally; it is expected to be introduced this week.
“The Bush Administration”s gross mismanagement of the Klamath River has led to this year”s and last year”s shortened salmon season,” Thompson said, in a press release. “Yet, the administration isn”t offering any assistance to the affected fishing communities nor do they have a plan to restore the salmon. That is why tomorrow we will be introducing legislation that would offer $81 million in federal assistance. It will also contain measures to revive the Klamath salmon and hold this administration accountable to ensure they cannot manipulate the river for political gain ever again.”
Ben Platt, a second-generation commercial fisherman from Fort Bragg presented Thompson with an 8,000-signature petition calling for the reopening of the salmon season. Platt was widely quoted and photographed by the media, as the rally got national coverage. Platt has the “Kay Bee” in Noyo Harbor.
The bill has three components:
– It would provide $81 million in emergency appropriations for impacted commercial fishermen and related businesses in the region. The Department of Commerce would distribute the assistance through the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission.
– It would direct the Department of Commerce to complete a Klamath salmon recovery plan within six months of the bill”s passage. After the completion of the plan $45 million would be allocated for conservation projects such as stream gauges and monitoring equipment, fish passage projects, and additional NOAA fisheries staff and resources to better track and study Klamath River salmon.
– The Department of Commerce would be required to report to Congress on the progress of the Klamath on a yearly basis.
In 2002, water diversions on the Klamath River resulted in a record fish kill that claimed 80,000 adult salmon the next fall. Experts have directly attributed the adult fish kill and a parasitic infection affecting spring juveniles, resulting from poor federal management of the river, as being responsible for the low salmon returns estimated for this year.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said: “The oceans are under siege — all around the world, fish populations are dropping sharply. We must bring back the fish, river-by-river, and region-by-region. Here in California and Oregon, we must all work together — fishermen, tribes, scientists, farmers and political leaders at the local, state, and federal level. I am proud to be a co-sponsor of Congressman Thompson”s new legislation, which will provide disaster assistance and ensure funding for the recovery and restoration of the Klamath salmon.”
The Pacific Fishery Management Council recommended on April 6 that the 2006 commercial salmon season be drastically reduced. The decision will severely affect ocean and in-river salmon fisheries along 700 miles of coastline, from Point Falcon, Oregon to Big Sur. The economic impact to coastal communities is expected to be devastating.
