Smith seeks funds for
fishers, solution to Klamath problems
By Joel Gallob Of the News-Times
June 30, 2006
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U.S. Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR), in an
interview Wednesday with the News-Times, described his efforts to get federal
funds for commercial salmon fishers' relief and promised to continue to do so,
while also seeking funds to better understand and fix the Klamath River. It
was low numbers of returning Klamath Chinook salmon that prompted federal
regulators to sharply curtail the 2006 commercial salmon fishery from below
the Columbia River down to Monterrey, Calif.
"A lot of people are doing different things to help the salmon
fishers," Smith said, "but they're all working to the same end. I've
been leaning on the Commerce Secretary to declare a (federal) fisheries
failure." And, along with other Northwest senators, Smith noted, he
introduced legislation to provide $81 million in aid to affected fishers and
businesses on the Northwest coast. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), he said,
added a provision for another $45 million for study and restoration of the
Klamath River (which straddles the Oregon/California border) as salmon
habitat.
Smith has met with Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and with leaders of the
Office of Management and Budget to argue for a federal disaster declaration
(based on the finding of a fisheries failure). The Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries
Act allows for such a declaration - which would open access to federal
support, from low-interest small business loans to unemployment compensation
for the fishers. But the relevant section, said Smith, is ambiguous, and is
being interpreted by federal officials in a way that blocks a disaster
declaration.
"I've been arguing that any
ambiguity should be resolved in favor of the fishermen," Smith said.
The Commerce Department has said it can't make a determination as to the
existence of a fisheries failure until February. That, Smith said,
"reflects their reading of the statutes." The Department believes it
must wait until the season is over and all the information about it is in,
before it can make a determination.
Rather than wait for Commerce to act, Smith said, he has sought "another
route, using the legislative art."
While Senator Ron Wyden was putting a hold on the bill to reauthorize
Magnuson-Stevens, Smith said, he worked with Senate Appropriations Chairman
Thad Cochran (R-Miss) to get his agreement to put funds into the Commerce,
State and Justice Appropriations bill. "We're working out the numbers
now," Smith said. "That will be even more important than the
declaration (of a fisheries disaster)," he predicted.
And, he said, he worked successfully to get two sections added to the
Magnuson-Stevens Reauthorization, which the Senate has passed The first makes
salmon fishermen and impacted businesses eligible for aid by declaring a
fisheries disaster on the Oregon coast. That does not ensure funds will be
allocated for the aid, but it gets matters past Gutierrez's refusal to make
the declaration. The second provision Smith negotiated requires Gutierrez to
issue a recovery plan for Klamath salmon within six months of the
reauthorization bill becoming law. It also requires the Secretary to report
annually to Congress on the status of the salmon, water conditions and the
health of Klamath River.
"It's fair to say Senator Wyden and I have been working in tandem, in
different ways. I've been doing the insider job, as a member of the majority
party; he has taken the pressure role, using the hold and the threat of a
filibuster," Smith said.
Smith recognizes the drought that helped create the 2002 struggle over Klamath
water between farmers (who wanted it for irrigation) and conservationists and
regulators (who wanted it for fish) only ended with this year's heavy rains.
So the Klamath fish that went to sea in 2003, 2004 and 2005 will likely also
show poor numbers - and that may not change until the out-migrating 2006 fish,
buoyed by large rains and heavy snow melt, return three and four years from
now.
A solution is possible, Smith believes, and it must meet the needs of both
farmers and fishers. "We've learned a lot in the last few years about
management of the Klamath ecosystem," he said. And in meetings with
Klamath Basin farmers and coastal fishermen, Smith said, he has found
"they had a lot of good ideas - when and where they should fish, when and
how to release water, how to avoid impacts on the fish" going up and down
the Klamath River.
Joel Gallob is a reporter for the News-Times. He can be reached at 265-8571,
ext. 223 or joel.gallob@lee.net
