Capital Press: Fish advocates speak to Fisheries Forum

Fish advocates speak to Fisheries Forum

Vickie Horner
Freelance Writer

Capital Press - November 4, 2005

Loss of fisheries restoration funds, coastal protections, economics and state water issues were discussed before the California Legislature’s Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture at Humboldt State University in Arcata recently.

First District Assemblywoman Patty Berg, D-Eureka, chairs the joint Assembly-Senate committee and led the 33rd annual Fisheries Forum Oct. 19 at Humboldt State’s Kate Buchanan Room.

Berg is sorting through the information gathered at the event before coming to any conclusions, said spokesman Will Shuck in a phone interview from Berg’s Sacramento office Oct. 24.

“As usual, the Fish Forum featured candid discussions on a wide range of issues,” Shuck said. “It’s too soon, though, to predict exactly what kind of legislation may emerge from those discussions.”

Speakers from government agencies, conservation groups, fisheries organizations and the public discussed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s recent veto of fisheries restoration funds, Dungeness crab, a Klamath River appeals court ruling and offshore oil exploration.

Tom Weseloh, North Coast manager of California Trout, addressed the committee stressing California Department of Fish and Game cuts don’t allow enough funds to administer restoration programs.

“There is a tremendous amount of watershed and fisheries restoration that needs to be done,” said Weseloh in a phone interview from his McKinleyville office after the event. “Unfortunately the funding for that has been vetoed for next year.”

Senate Bill 1086, authored by state Sens. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, and Wesley Chesbro, D-Arcata and vetoed by the governor Oct. 11, would have allocated more funding for fisheries restoration.

California fisheries restoration is threatened now because some types of federal funding need matching state funds, which won’t be available, Weseloh said. “So these were all very serious cuts,” he said.

Fisheries and watershed restoration are a large part of the North Coast’s economy, providing jobs and tourist dollars, Weseloh said.

He told the committee that the Department of Fish and Game is understaffed, underfunded and has more mandates to meet than money allows, but it still needs to reach out to its constituents.

“The bottom line is we want to work with them. We’re the people that can help them,” he said.

Another issue he raised is the state tax on anglers, the purpose of which is to gather funding for steelhead restoration, Weseloh said.

The funds in the steelhead card account have accumulated to the point that it has more money in it than the spending authority allows, and groups like California Trout want the authorization to put the funds to use, Weseloh said.

The fisheries forum was a good way for the public and fishermen to relate their concerns directly to the Legislature, he said, adding solutions or “fixes” are often an outcome.

Chesbro, who sits on the fisheries and aquaculture committee, addressed the forum and said it was taking place at a time when the oceans, coast and fisheries are under assault in Washington, D.C., and in Sacramento.

Advances in fisheries restoration and habitat protection is an industry the North Coast was counting on economically for the future, Chesbro said.

“This year the governor vetoed nearly $24 million in programs for state park rangers, fish and game wardens, wild salmon restoration and hatcheries,” he said, in his opening statement. “Specifically, the governor vetoed $4 million from the Coastal Salmon and Steelhead Restoration Program. These are funds that we fought very hard to have included in the budget.”

The veto of Senate Bill 1086 puts at risk Department of Fish and Game restoration grants programs and federal funding that requires matching state funds.

Proposed federal legislation contains language that could jeopardize California’s current offshore oil exploration and drilling moratorium, Chesbro said.

The committee heard a request by crab fishermen for emergency legislation extending boat limits in California’s Dungeness crab fishery.

Berg said discussions at past forums have led to many existing fisheries, aquaculture and marine laws.

The Times-Standard of Eureka contributed to this story.