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Fishermen Get Some Disaster Relief for Cancelled Salmon Season
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Fishermen Get Some Disaster Relief for Cancelled Salmon Season
By Michael Thomas
Salmon season remains closed until July 26, with strict limits of 75 fish a week for the following month due to low fish counts on the Klamath River, where water diversion for agriculture and other uses has impacted spawning runs. The news has been difficult for commercial fishermen.
Many small commercial fishing boats from the Santa Cruz and Moss Landing harbors have motored up to Oregon to fish tuna. That is, if they could afford the fuel, according to Mike Stiller, President of the Santa Cruz Commercial Fisherman’s Association.
“It’s very tough to make it on 75 fish a week even if you can get 75 fish,” Stiller added.
On June 29, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced an expanded state relief program with $35 million available for loans to fisherman and others in the industry. The governor has also reimbursed fisherman for license fees paid this year and suspended them for next year.
However, fishermen like Stiller are wary of the relief plan, much of which involves low-interest loans.
“You don’t want to spend borrowed money to buy groceries,” Stiller said. “I’m not sure exactly how that’s going to shake out.”
Federal relief is still being debated, but US Commerce Secretary Gutierrez declared a State of Emergency on July 6, which is the first step towards releasing federal funds to keep commercial fishing afloat.
Still there are challenges ahead. Federal disaster relief cannot be used to compensate for an act of government, which complicates the situation since the Federal government controls water diversion from the Klamath and ordered the fishing shutdown this year.
“We had five years of drought up there but the reason for the fish kill was they didn’t let enough water out,” Stiller said. “But you can’t say that if you want to get assistance.”
If federal funds do become available, fishermen would likely not see the reimbursements until early next year.
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