Union Staff
September 1, 2006
Sen. Sam Aanestad (R-Grass Valley)
said he is both shocked and disappointed that the speaker of the State Assembly
has chosen to block a bi-partisan legislative effort designed to help the
Northern California fishing industry.
Aanestad and Sen. Wes Chesbro (D-Arcata) had agreed to serve as joint authors of
Senate Bill 1127 at the request of Gov. Schwarzenegger in response to a federal
decision to severely limit commercial salmon fishing on the West Coast.
Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez blocked the measure until the final night of
legislative session and never allowed it to come up for a floor debate or vote.
SB 1127 would have provided $11 million for salmon fishermen through the
creation of a $10 million emergency grant program for commercial fishing
business and commercial passenger vessel operators who have been impacted by the
federal restrictions on salmon fishing. In addition, the legislation also
created a $1 million revolving loan program that would have provided zero
interest loans to commercial fishing businesses, including commercial vessel
operators.
The federal government took action last April to dramatically curtail Chinook
Salmon fishing opportunities for both commercial and recreational anglers due to
a third straight year of declining salmon runs on the Klamath River. The
governor, in response, declared a State of Emergency that covers eleven Northern
California counties. Three of those counties, Del Norte, Trinity and Siskiyou,
are within Sen. Aanestad’s District.
The federal decision to severely restrict the salmon season means that a fishing
industry that relies on a full season to earn money to pay bills has been
restricted to less than 20 percent of a normal season. This restriction has
created an economic hardship on those who depend upon commercial salmon fishing,
which will cause them to lose boats, businesses or be forced out of the fishing
business altogether.
SB 1127 was designed to soften the blow of this hardship by providing the
industry with a grant and loan program designed to keep businesses afloat.
Financial assistance also would have been provided to fishing equipment sales
and bait shops – even reimbursement for commercial fishing licenses that have
already been purchased.