Lawmakers seek help for commercial salmon fleets, inhospitable Klamath River.
By David Whitney -- Bee Washington Bureau
April 28, 2006
WASHINGTON - California and Oregon Democrats are rallying behind commercial salmon fishermen facing drastic reductions in their season because of poor runs in the Klamath River.
The 32-member California House Democratic caucus and Oregon's four Democratic House members joined in legislation introduced this week by Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, that directs $81 million in emergency relief to the commercial fishermen. It also calls for spending another $45 million to make the Klamath River more hospitable to the prized fish.
Similar legislation has been introduced in the Senate by Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, both California Democrats, and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., making the call for federal aid a unanimous Democratic initiative.
So far, no Republican member has joined on the legislation. But Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., has introduced a much narrower bill that includes the $81 million for emergency assistance but does not seek any funds to improve river conditions. Wyden is also a co-sponsor of that bill.
The political jousting showcases a huge divide over Bush administration environmental policy. It comes as Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez is about to act on a recommendation by the Pacific Fishery Management Council to drastically reduce the commercial salmon harvest this summer from Monterey to the Columbia River in an effort to protect the low numbers of fish migrating back to the Klamath River to spawn.
More than 30,000 adult salmon died in the lower portions of the Klamath in the fall of 2002 when the river was running low, the water was warm and a fatal parasite spread. Poor runs last year and this year are related to that die-off, and continuing water quality issues in the river have been blamed for tens of thousands of additional fish dying either as they head out to mature in the ocean or as they return to lay their eggs as part of their three-to four-year life cycle.
Fishermen blame federal water policy, saying the Bush administration's management decisions favor water for agricultural irrigation in the Upper Klamath basin north of the California-Oregon border. A federal court recently ordered the National Marine Fisheries Service to redo its biological opinion on water needs for the Klamath salmon.
Glen Spain, Northwest regional spokesman for the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, said the $81 million included in the legislation in aid for commercial fishermen, Indian tribes and fishing communities reflects what Oregon and California estimate the economic damage will be from the proposed season closures.
Democrats held a press conference with fishermen in San Francisco on Monday to announce the introduction of the bill.
"The Bush administration's gross mismanagement of the Klamath River has led to this year's and last year's shortened salmon seasons," Thompson said. "Yet the administration isn't offering any assistance."
Last year, Democrats, again unanimously, wrote the administration seeking an economic disaster declaration after the commercial season was shortened by 60 percent. The Commerce Department recently rejected such a declaration, however, saying that high prices paid for salmon last year canceled out the effects of the shortened season.
Thompson has filed a Freedom of Information Act request in an effort to evaluate the information the agency used in reaching that conclusion. Thompson said the situation is so dire this year that the dock price for salmon would have to top $280 a pound for commercial fishermen to break even under the expected closures.
The prospects of economic damage are serious enough that representatives of Boxer and Smith said separately Thursday they will try to persuade congressional leaders to include money for the fishermen in an emergency spending bill for hurricane relief and the war in Iraq nearing completion in the Senate.
Even with the pared-down bill Smith proposes, however, the chances of passage seem grim.
According to Spain, without the additional funding for improving the Klamath River included in the Democrats' version of the bill, there's not much hope for reversing the conditions that make the Klamath problematic for fish.
"We can't solve the problem just with disaster assistance," Spain said. "The river itself is the problem."
Under the Thompson bill, the Commerce Department would have six months to write a recovery plan for the salmon. Once done, the $45 million would be allocated for monitoring equipment, fish passages and more fisheries biologists to study the problem and issue annual progress reports to Congress.
About the writer:
The Bee's David Whitney can be reached at (202) 383-0004 or dwhitney@mcclatchydc.com.
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