Salmon fishermen have been negatively impacted by the Federal government’s severe restriction of salmon season fishing along the West Coast. SB 1127, sponsored by Senators Wes Chesbro and Sam Aanestad, would have provided grants and loans for salmon fishermen who have seen their livelihoods decline along with the state’s Klamath Basin Chinook Salmon run.
“The administration in Washington has single handedly created this disaster but it is now up to the state of California to help our people,” Chesbro said in a news conference last month.
Governor Schwarzenegger has called on the Federal government to provide critical relief to salmon fisherman and has introduced additional support for a relief effort via California lawmakers in SB 1127.
The federal government enforced the near-closure of the season. And, local salmon fishing area representatives have since blamed the federal government for poorly managing Klamath River water policies. The local representatives say this is the cause of the huge 2002 fish die-off and subsequent decline in the fishery industry there.
SB 1127 would have transferred $20 million of recreational boaters' tax dollars from the Harbors and Watercraft Revolving Fund (HWRF) to the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency (BTHA) for a zero per cent loan program for commercial fishermen and commercial passenger vessel operators directly affected by the restrictions and closures of salmon fisheries.
Recreational Boatgers of California (RBOC), an organization opposed to SB 1127, states "The financial needs of commercial fishing businesses that are being impacted by restrictions and closures on salmon fisheries should be addressed by state emergency funds that exist for this very purpose."
The RBOC says a the $20 million raid would take funds away from essential boating facility development that has already been approved.
"California will not be able to address the deteriorating boating infrastructure that exists throughout the state," the organization said in a statement. "Critical boating programs will be placed at risk including local boating law enforcement, as well as boater safety and education."
© PCH Press 2006. All Rights Reserved.