Salmon
aid issues dismay trollers
Assistance
checks not distributed equally
Associated
Press
August
21, 2006
CHARLESTON, Ore. (AP) — Nearly 300 commercial salmon trollers are
getting checks from the Oregon state government to help them through a
fishing season that was virtually curtailed, but the varying sizes of the
checks are making some unhappy.
According to Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s office, 280 of 360 applicants will
receive funds. The highest check — or checks — was for $7,500. One of
the smallest checks was $75.
‘‘The intent was never for anyone to get a big amount of money like that,’’
Oregon Salmon Commission member Jeff Reeves said. ‘‘The idea was for
equitable assistance.’’
When the National Marine Fisheries Service closed most of the season for
trollers in Oregon and Northern California to protect wild runs of Klamath
River fall chinook, the state stepped up with $500,000 in aid in June,
with another possible $500,000 in September through approval by the
Legislative Emergency Board. Checks now going out are from the first
$500,000.
Dalton Hobbs, assistant director of the Agriculture Department said a
committee of coastal officials and state officials reviewed the
applications, guided by administrative rules that
determined eligibility and directions from legislators that said the state
must be sure it gets the funds to the fishermen who need it most.
The application forms included questions including how much income a
fisherman received from other sources and other fisheries; how much was
earned from fishing in other states; which infrastructure-related expenses
already had been paid; and a section for a statement of need in which
fishermen could describe their particular circumstances. They were all
details the state said it needed to pass muster with taxpayers.
He and others said the state will do things differently if there’s a
distribution in September.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted
material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those
who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for
non-profit
research and educational purposes only. For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
