A major West Coast fishing organization is asking Congressional leaders to consider projects that would assist the commercial fishing industry as part of an anticipated economic stimulus package.
In a letter to U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Harry Reid, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations recommends consideration for projects that are “intended to get fishing men and women back to work.”
The association's Executive Director Zeke Grader wrote that research and restoration efforts would yield both important information on fisheries, and also provide jobs to improve fish habitat. Grader also pointed to the crumbling fishing infrastructure in West Coast ports due to downturns in fisheries and difficulty in financing.
Any stimulus package is likely to be extremely competitive, according to recent statements by President-elect Barack Obama's advisers. The plan being hashed out now is expected to authorize spending between $650 million and $850 million on health care, education, infrastructure like roads and bridges, aid to states, and energy, according to the Associated Press.
Vice President-elect Joe Biden told AP that there will be no earmarks in the proposal, and the package would not go toward pet projects.
Grader wrote that it's understood that a federal stimulus package would focus on public works and infrastructure projects, and argued that the projects could also help with tribal and sport fisheries, and assist coastal communities as well as the commercial fishing industry.
”Many of our nation's fisheries are healthy and would best be served simply by a rebound of the nation's economy so that fishermen again have consumers for their catch,” Grader wrote. “Other fisheries are in poor shape and may be helped by some direct assistance in a stimulus package.”
Recent years on the West Coast have been particularly tough for fishermen. In 2006, fisheries managers severely cut fishing to protect weak Klamath River salmon stocks. In 2008, the salmon season was closed due to poor runs to the generally reliable Sacramento River. Federal assistance was provided in both those years after the seasons were considered disasters.