Congress bucks Bush veto on salmon money in Farm Bill

John Driscoll

The Times-Standard

May 24, 2008

Congress has defied the presidential veto of a $300 billion Farm Bill that included $170 million in disaster assistance for fishermen and businesses hurting from the cancellation of salmon season along the West Coast this year.

The money could be available this summer, said Randy Fisher, executive director of the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, which would administer the funds.

The funds have to be passed from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to the U.S. Commerce Department, then the commission would put together a grant that outlines how the money will be split up. Industry councils in the three West Coast states would make recommendations to the commission on how the money is spent.

”The idea here is how fair can we make this for everybody,” Fisher said.

It has been the worst year for salmon in decades. The Sacramento River basin 's long-dependable salmon stocks collapsed, and so few salmon were expected to return to spawn that federal regulators determined none should be caught.

The salmon fleet is essentially idle, said Humboldt Fishermen's Marketing Association President Aaron Newman, and only the larger boats are likely to target albacore tuna. With fuel prices through the roof, Newman said, that will be prohibitive. The federal relief money should be able to float businesses for the year.

”It'll pay the bills,” Newman said.

Rep. Mike Thompson worked with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to get the language into the Farm Bill. Thompson, a St. Helena Democrat, said that the salmon crisis will hit fishermen and businesses that depend on the industry, and have ripple effects because there will be less money available overall in the coastal economy.

”It's not just the fishing families that take the hit,” Thompson said, “the community takes it on the chin as well.”

John Driscoll can be reached at 441-0504 or jdriscoll@times-standard.com.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted
material  herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have
expressed  a  prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit
research and  educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml

Source:  http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_9368262