WASHINGTON - Emergency aid for salmon fishermen is high on the agenda of West Coast lawmakers and industry groups as Congress returns to work this week after its August recess.
Enduring the worst season closures to protect dwindling stocks from the Klamath River, fishermen received a big boost last month when Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez declared a fishery failure because catches are expected to fall by 88 percent of average.
Now comes the hard part of determining damages and coaxing the money out of Congress.
Gutierrez estimated that the closures have directly harmed commercial fishermen to the tune of $16 million. Oregon and California believe the damage could top $80 million when all of the effects are calculated. Commercial fishermen think another
$40 million or $45 million should be added to begin fixing the Klamath River so it's more hospitable to salmon.
"We need to keep these people from losing their boats and livelihoods," said Zeke Grader, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations. "But the more important thing is fixing the problems with the river so that it is again producing fish like it's capable of doing."
Congress is a long way from those numbers.
The House added $2 million in disaster assistance to a 2007 funding bill for the Commerce Department, which includes federal fishery programs. The Senate kicked that number up to
$10 million. A campaign is under way in the House and Senate to add more as the two chambers prepare to meet in a conference committee to work out their differences on the bill.