Rep. Thompson Secures Disaster Relief for Communities Hit by Salmon Season Closure

Rep. Thompson Secures Disaster Relief for Communities Hit by Salmon Season Closure

May 13, 2008

WASHINGTON - Today, North Coast Congressman Mike Thompson (D-CA) announced that $170 million has been included in the Farm Bill to aid families and businesses in California, Oregon and Washington affected by the biggest and most devastating Pacific salmon season closure in American history.

“This funding is desperately needed by the communities and families who rely on salmon fishing, many of whom face losing their businesses and homes due to two years of no fishing,” said Thompson.

In April, an historic drop in juvenile Chinook salmon in the Sacramento River led to a complete closure of the commercial and recreational salmon seasons in California and Oregon. In Washington, the season was also closed because populations of the Columbia River Chinook and Coho salmon are at near-record lows.

In response, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez declared the salmon season a federal fisheries disaster, which authorizes Congress to provide aid to affected communities. Thompson and other members of the California, Oregon and Washington delegations asked Speaker Nancy Pelosi to help find disaster aid so communities could get aid as quickly as possible.

Communities on the Pacific Coast that would receive this aid are still recovering from the 2006 salmon season closure, which was due to historically low salmon stocks in the Klamath River Basin. In 2007, Thompson secured $60.4 million in aid for California and Oregon fishers and related businesses affected by that closure. However, this year's closure will have a much larger economic impact because the Sacramento River salmon are considered the ‘driver' of Pacific Coast salmon stocks. In addition, for the first time, the recreational salmon fishing season will be closed.

“Providing disaster relief is not something we can do each year,” added Thompson. “And the people who rely on fishing for their livelihoods don't want us to. We need to make a commitment to restoring our salmon habitats, especially in the Klamath River Basin. A problem of this magnitude needs a long-term solution.”

Thompson and fishing and conservation groups along the Pacific North Coast have been working for years to restore salmon habitats. However, low water levels caused by unsustainable and unlawful water plans put in place by the Bush Administration have contributed to the precipitous decline in West Coast salmon populations.

“We also need to pay attention to the political forces that helped create this disaster,” said Thompson. “Because of the Bush Administration's poor water policies that were found to be in violation of the law, every major salmon river in the continental U.S. is now being run by the courts. As a result, the agencies responsible for restoring these rivers aren't giving Congress the information we need to make them healthy again. The Bush Administration should be making decisions based on science, not politics.”

The House and Senate are expected to pass this final version of the Farm Bill later this week.


CONTACT: Anne Warden at (202) 225-3311, (703) 338-4480 or anne.warden@mail.house.gov.