$20.6 million in federal disaster aid announced for salmon industry

Northern California’s struggling salmon industry will receive $20.6 million in federal disaster relief, but state and local officials say the amount is far short of what was needed to offset the loss of last year’s entire season.

In fact, it is less than half of the $45 million California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office sought for struggling commercial fishers, seafood processors, charter boat operators and others affected by closure of the 2023 season.

Five-year averages suggested $45 million would account for basic “coastal community and state personal income,” without taking into account broader economic impacts.

David Goldenberg, chief executive officer of the California Salmon Council, said that figure was later revised down to $35.3 million but said he remained “sincerely disappointed” at what he called a “woefully underfunded” relief package.

The relief package, announced Thursday by U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimundo, is on par with “an emergency transfusion,” said Glen Spain, northwest regional director for the Pacific coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations. ”It’s not going to get the patient out of the hospital.”

In a news release announcing the relief, North Coast Congressman Jared Huffman, whose district includes several affected fishing ports, made clear his displeasure.

“While I am glad we were finally able to get some relief into the hands of folks who have been hit hardest by last year’s salmon fishery closure, it is grossly inadequate for addressing the severity of this disaster,” Huffman, D-San Rafael, said. “We got this relief out the door faster than what’s standard in the federal government — but I know that’s not nearly quick enough for the needs of fishermen who depend on this money for their equipment, their operations, and their lives.

“I will always pressure the administration to get the quickest help possible for my constituents, whether it’s for fisheries closures, natural disaster relief, you name it. And I plan to get to the bottom of why NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) could not provide even half of California’s request and where the additional $25 million went.”

Years of drought contributed to a rapid decline in chinook salmon stocks affected by everything from water diversions to damned rivers to development and habitat loss, leading to restrictive seasons in recent years.

But last year, a collapse in Klamath River and Sacramento/San Joaquin River populations forced the complete cancellation of the sport and commercial seasons, leaving those dependent on the salmon harvest with few alternatives and limited hope for sufficient recovery of the resource to allow a season this year.

Spain, like many industry leaders, especially blames state and federal water policy for “taking too much water out of the river during the drought when the fish needed it most.”

Salmon typically mature three years after they hatch, but so many baby fry perished at the height of the drought in 2020 and 2021 that there haven’t been enough adults available to harvest if any were to be allowed to return upstream to spawn and replenish the stocks.

A nearly two-month delay in the Dungeness crab season compounded the hit to the industry, Goldenberg said.

Spain said he’s worried that the closure, especially if there’s a successive one this summer, will force fueling stations, marinas and others affected to abandon their businesses, weakening the infrastructure for fishing in the future.

Veteran Bodega Bay fisherman Dick Ogg, president of the Bodega Bay Fisherman’s Marketing Association, said he was glad to see something come available.

“The fact that we’re moving forward with it is a big plus that means a lot to everybody,” Ogg said. “I mean, any compensation we can receive at this point, it’s going to help us.

“The scope of the economic disaster,” said Spain, “is much greater than the amount provided. There’s no way around that.

“But at least it’s something. It will keep some people from bankruptcy. That’s very important. But it’s a Band-Aid.”

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan (she/her) at 707-521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @MaryCallahanB.