EUREKA -- Grateful for the opportunity to have the ear of someone who can possibly offer some relief from the financial annihilation on their horizons, North Coast fishermen made the best of their Saturday visit from federal fisheries representatives.

Bill Hogarth, assistant administrator for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), was in Eureka to gather information from salmon fishermen and related businesses.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez declared a fishery resource disaster last week when restrictions on salmon catches were ordered to protect the low returns of Klamath River fall Chinook. The commercial fishery was closed and sport and tribal fisheries were severely cut.

On Thursday the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee approved $10 million in relief for fishermen and fishing-related businesses affected by the loss in income, but it was only a fraction of the estimated $81 million in damage done by the closure.

Hogarth told the fishermen, processors, distributors, store owners and fishing guides at the meeting, that he was gathering information to report back to the commerce secretary as to the scope of the economic devastation on the North Coast. Fishermen agreed that this is the worst they have ever suffered and many told Hogarth they aren't sure they can recover.

Local fisherman Russ Miller said that in 1992 he was so desperate that instead of scraping by on the meager salmon available he left his family to fish in Alaska. This year is worse, he said. “Why should I invest in $2,600 to maintain my salmon permits if there is no future in fishing here,” Miller said. He added that for him Small Business Administration loans are not an option because “how can you pay back loans when you have no future.”

Humboldt Bay Harbor Commission President and fisherman's wife Ronnie Pellegrini said that the SBA loans are not an option for her family because they only offer an unsecured maximum of $10,000. After that, fishermen will have to put their homes and boats up as collateral. “When we go under, we can't even live on our boats,” she said.

Last week, the Crescent City Harbor District's announced that in order to stay afloat, they will begin a one cent poundage fee on crab for processors. The change is going to raise fish buyer and processor Bill Carvalho's facility costs 60 percent in Crescent City. Carvalho said that it's an every-man-for-himself situation now and necessary industry partners like the ports, buyers and fishermen are all having to turn on each other to survive.

”People begin to cannibalize on each other,” he said, explaining that fishermen have cut out the buyers to get a little better price on the few fish they are allowed. “I haven't bought a single salmon this year ... we all just keep taking bites out of each other, (but eventually) someone's going to die.”

Meeting attendees told Hogarth that this isn't a situation they can recover from even if by some miracle next year's salmon season is incredible. Substantial losses to future sport fishing tourism as well as a lapse in consumer markets is expected, because tourists will go to other places to fish and consumers will lose interest in buying fish that hasn't been available for a long time.

Hogarth told the people in the Woodley Island Marina conference room that he is going to do his best to secure more help for them, and said he is “convinced that the economic impact was greater than we expected this year.”

”This is the beginning of my involvement, not the end,” he said.

Ann Johnson-Stromberg covers McKinleyville, business and general assignment. She can be reached at 441-0538 or astromberg@times-standard.com