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| AP Photo Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., speaks April 10 in Coos Bay to about 400 salmon fishermen and their supporters who rallied to call for federal assistance to help fishermen weather a fishing closure along the Oregon and California coasts. Though Congress did not approve funding for fishermen, the Oregon International Port of Coos Bay voted Wednesday to defer fishermen’s moorage payments. |
Where Congress to date has failed in helping local salmon
fishermen, the Oregon International Port of Coos Bay has stepped forward.
Wednesday night, the port commission unanimously voted to give suffering
fishermen a break financially. The vote allows them to defer annual moorage
payments and interest payments on those bills until they find out whether
Congress might dole out aid in response to the South Coast salmon season
closure.
“I can tell you, we're the only port doing this,” Mike Gaul, the port's
deputy executive director told the commission.
It's not a big break, but port staff is hoping every little
bit will help fishermen tread water during the closure. A typical annual moorage
for a commercial boat brings in $1,000 in revenue. In all, there are 88
commercial boats registered out of Charleston that fish salmon. Not all rely
strictly on salmon, so not all may qualify for full deferral.
Port Commissioner Caddy McKeown asked the obligatory question of how this might
affect the budget. Throughout the discussion, port staff said that they planned
for less money in revenues this year as talks with fishermen unfolded. There
also might be a trickle effect on revenues in the shipyard and storage area.
Overall, Gaul estimated the port may miss out on $40,000 to $60,000, but there's
a catch: Should federal aid come through, fishermen would be asked to pay the
fees.
U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith formally requested some unused 2006 federal funds be
re-allocated to Oregon fishing communities affected by the restricted salmon
seasons. That request came after his amendment to an emergency supplemental
appropriations bill last week was deleted.
Smith sent a letter to Clay Johnson III, the director of the Office of
Management and Budget, on Wednesday. He also sent a letter to U.S. Department of
Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, requesting an expedited decision on a
declaration of a fisheries failure.
“In the meantime, I ask that you identify and reprogram sufficient funds
within the current budget to provide relief to fishermen and supporting
businesses on the Oregon coast,” Smith wrote in the letter to Johnson.
But it's unclear yet what funds may be available.
If Congress or the federal government refuses aid, port staff may come back with
more options. Those might include no moorage fees for annual customers and those
who have fished salmon the past two years. Relief might cover the current year
only and only for those customers who are up-to-date on payments. It may be set
on a sliding scale depending on the number of fisheries in which a boat
participates. Also, there might be an option for boat owners to trade volunteer
hours in the marina maintenance program.
“It definitely would be helpful,” Charleston salmon
troller Jeff Reeves said this morning. “If the Port of Coos Bay does follow
through with this policy, this will be the first concession made from anyone,
period. Otherwise all we've gotten is chitchat.”
Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski's second salmon summit, originally planned for Friday
in Newport, has been postponed. But, U.S. Democratic representatives from Oregon
and California held a press conference in Washington, D.C., to urge Gutierrez to
declare the salmon fishery a failure.
During salmon season slump in the early 1990s, the port let fishermen break
annual moorage fees into quarterly payments, but it's never proposed giving them
relief.
“Your port staff feels pretty strongly that the port's fishermen have
supported us over the years and we want to help them,” Gaul said.