Lawmakers Tell Bush 'Hands Off' Salmon Relief Money 

Checks will soon be mailed to Oregon Coast commercial fishermen affected by this year's salmon disaster, but Rep. Peter DeFazio and 11 other members of Congress are worried that the Bush Administration will try to keep $70 million of the money appropriated for the relief.

"I am absolutely astounded that the Administration is not distributing the full $170 million Congress allocated in the Farm Bill to deal with the salmon disaster. Instead, they are trying to steal $70 million from salmon fishermen and give it to an incompetent defense contractor," DeFazio said in a press release issued Friday.

"The fishing community of Oregon is already suffering because of the flawed Bush policies in the Sacramento River basin," said DeFazio, D-Ore. "They should not have to suffer again because the President has hired people in Florida who can't count. We've been there before."

The Pacific States Marine Fishery Commission will begin sending checks to fishermen affected by this year's salmon disaster as early as Oct. 1, representatives of NOAA's Fisheries Service and PSMFC said in a telephonic news conference Wednesday.

Congress has appropriated $170 million to provide relief to affected commercial fishermen, wholesalers, processors, charter boat owners and recreational guides and businesses dependent on fishing.

The unprecedented collapse of Sacramento River Fall Chinook, combined with the exceptionally poor status of coho salmon from Oregon and Washington, led officials to close all commercial and sport Chinook ocean fishing off California and most of Oregon this year. Only a small hatchery-origin recreational coho fishery off central and southern Oregon remained open, which also affected Washington fishermen.

Bob Lohn, the Northwest Regional administrator for NOAA, said that $100 million will be available immediately with the other $70 million coming as needed.

DeFazio and 11 of his peers wrote President Bush urging him to distribute the full amount.

Given that the Administration attempted to reallocate $70 million earlier this year to pay for cost overruns associated with the 2010 Census, DeFazio and the others said they are concerned that they again intend to reallocate the remaining money to fix the mistakes made by Bush's political cronies.

Randy Fisher, of Portland, is the executive director for the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, which is handling the program

"As of yesterday, we sent 4,229 applications to California, Oregon and Washington, to trollers and charter boat owners," Fisher said. "They need to circle the year they are most interested in getting paid, sign the form, mail it back and we will begin mailing checks Oct. 1. We're all loaded and ready to go."

He said businesses affected by the salmon closure may also apply, "but we don't have a total listing of businesses. They can go to our Web site, pull down the forms and submit them to us for reimbursement for their loss."

That Internet site is: www.psmfc.org

Fisher said the cap for Oregon and Washington fishermen is $70,000, while the California cap is $225,000. The minimum is $2,000.

Of the 4,229 applications sent out to fishermen, 2,197 were sent to California, 1,396 to Oregon and 636 to Washington.

He said the breakdown among the states is $120 million going to California, almost $27 million to Oregon and about $22 million to Washington if the whole $170 million is distributed.

Out of the first $100 million that will be sent out starting Oct. 1, $62 million will go to California, $25 million to Oregon and $12 million to Washington.

The fishing closure signals the worst commercial and recreational fisheries' failure in Oregon history and is the first ban on salmon fishing since the industry began 150 years ago.

Washington, Oregon, and California estimated damages to the fishing industry to total $290 million dollars.

DeFazio said short-term assistance is critical so that fishers can make boat payments, insurance payments, mortgage payments, and keep food on the table.

In June, the Office of Management and Budget, which puts together the president's annual budget, sent Congress a revised budget request for more funding to carry out the 2010 Census.

The White House is requesting $546 million more for the Census and has proposed using $70 million of the $170 million in salmon disaster money allocated in the Farm Bill to pay for the cost overruns.

The Administration entered into a contract with the Harris Corporation, a Florida defense contractor, to conduct the Census, but the contractor has run into serious cost overruns in the amount of hundreds of millions of dollars.