Washington Hunter
Well-known member
Published December 13, 2006
DAVID WHITNEY, McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON - Congress adjourned over the weekend without sending any disaster assistance to commercial fishermen idled this year by the nearly total closure of the salmon season off the California and Oregon coasts.
But in what might be a precedent, it ordered federal fishery managers to write a plan for the recovery of the endangered coho salmon runs in the Klamath River, the wellspring of problems that caused the fishery closures.
The salmon fishery was severely reduced this spring because of forecasts that salmon would be returning to spawn in the Klamath in numbers below what is needed for healthy propagation.
Because it's impossible for fishermen to distinguish between a Klamath River salmon and fish from other rivers, the shortened commercial season meant closures from Morro Bay along the central California coast to the Columbia River.
The closures idled not only the salmon fleets but the fuel dealers, ice providers and other enterprises that serve the commercial boats. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez declared a fishery failure in August because catches were expected to tumble to 88 percent of average.
Later, Gutierrez appealed personally to Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, to include $60 million in emergency assistance to the fishing industry. That appeal followed letters by Oregon and California governors and lawmakers, the California Chamber of Commerce, the Klamath Water Users Association and others asking for the emergency aid this year.
But Congress adjourned last weekend without passing a spending bill or including any money in temporary measures to keep the government funded through mid-February.
Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., said the emergency aid fell victim to post-election politics, where congressional leaders decided not to open the temporary measure to disaster earmarks. Had they done so for the fishermen, Thompson said, it would have opened the floodgates on billions of dollars in farm aid.
DAVID WHITNEY, McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON - Congress adjourned over the weekend without sending any disaster assistance to commercial fishermen idled this year by the nearly total closure of the salmon season off the California and Oregon coasts.
But in what might be a precedent, it ordered federal fishery managers to write a plan for the recovery of the endangered coho salmon runs in the Klamath River, the wellspring of problems that caused the fishery closures.
The salmon fishery was severely reduced this spring because of forecasts that salmon would be returning to spawn in the Klamath in numbers below what is needed for healthy propagation.
Because it's impossible for fishermen to distinguish between a Klamath River salmon and fish from other rivers, the shortened commercial season meant closures from Morro Bay along the central California coast to the Columbia River.
The closures idled not only the salmon fleets but the fuel dealers, ice providers and other enterprises that serve the commercial boats. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez declared a fishery failure in August because catches were expected to tumble to 88 percent of average.
Later, Gutierrez appealed personally to Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, to include $60 million in emergency assistance to the fishing industry. That appeal followed letters by Oregon and California governors and lawmakers, the California Chamber of Commerce, the Klamath Water Users Association and others asking for the emergency aid this year.
But Congress adjourned last weekend without passing a spending bill or including any money in temporary measures to keep the government funded through mid-February.
Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., said the emergency aid fell victim to post-election politics, where congressional leaders decided not to open the temporary measure to disaster earmarks. Had they done so for the fishermen, Thompson said, it would have opened the floodgates on billions of dollars in farm aid.
