Newport News: Rep. Hooley works to secure salmon disaster relief funding

Rep. Hooley works to secure salmon disaster relief funding

Newport News-Times

November 17, 2006

Congresswoman Darlene Hooley (D-OR) and other West Coast House members this week urged Oregon and California Senators to fight to secure salmon disaster funding in an emergency disaster appropriations package for agriculture that is expected to soon come before the Senate.

With the number of legislative days dwindling, members are asking their senators to act quickly to get relief funding inserted into an emergency disaster appropriations bill for agriculture as there is no guarantee that there will be another vehicle for salmon aid available.

"Getting emergency aid to affected fishers and businesses is critical to the survival of the industry," said Hooley. "The restrictions placed on this year's commercial salmon season threaten the life and vitality of this industry, the health of the coastal economy, and a way of life that we don't want to lose. Securing relief funding is a top priority, and this agriculture package may be the last chance."

Oregon and California commercial salmon fishers and coastal communities are suffering an economic impact of as much as $60.4 million as a result of a severely restricted commercial salmon season.

On Aug. 10 of this year the Secretary of Commerce declared a commercial fishery failure in accordance with Section 312(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, opening the door for a congressional appropriation of emergency funding. This disaster declaration is only the second time that a fishery failure has been declared before the end of a season.

Hooley was instrumental in inserting a $2 million commitment for disaster assistance for affected fishermen as a place-holder in the FY 2007 Science, State, Justice, and Commerce Appropriations (SSJC) bill passed by the House. This bill is awaiting action in the Senate.

Following the announcement of the near-closure, West Coast members, including Hooley, drafted HR 5213, modeled after a disaster bill authored by Senator Ted Stevens for an Alaska salmon crisis in 2000, to provide $81 million in emergency appropriations to the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission to distribute directly to commercial fishers and related businesses. The bill would also provide $45 million to the Department of Commerce to begin restoration work on the Klamath River, and requires the Department of Commerce to report to Congress about how funded projects have improved water quality and levels and improved salmon spawning habitat. The House has not taken action on that legislation.