Northwest Fisheries
In May 1994, Ron Brown, former Secretary of Commerce declared that a
fishery resource disaster had occurred in the salmon fishery in the Pacific
Northwest. Historic lows in the abundance of the two most commercially
important species of Salmon, Chinook and coho, had led to widespread
closures of the salmon fisheries in that region, which includes Washington,
Oregon, and Northern California.
Both natural and manmade factors precipitated the crisis. These included an
extended period of drought, floods, unusually warm ocean conditions (El
Nino), habitat degradation resulting from dams, logging, agricultural runoff,
and water diversion for irrigation, as well as overfishing and an over-reliance
on hatcheries to maintain dwindling wild stocks.
Northwest Emergency Assistance Program
In response to the Secretary's
Disaster Declarations of May 1994 and August 1995, approximately $25
million in disaster assistance was provided to the ocean troll, Columbia River
gillnet, and charterboat salmon fishermen of Washington, Oregon, and
California. Of the approximately $25 million in disaster assistance provided,
Washington state received $13.6 million), Oregon $7.7 million, and
California $3.4 million. Puget Sound fishermen were not included in these
programs because factors underlying the natural resource disaster did not
extended to Puget Sound. Some of the ways the program has worked are:
Habitat Restoration Jobs Program
The habitat restoration program, funded at $6 million and
administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural
Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in coordination with local
resource agencies, sponsored a variety of projects in Washington,
Oregon, and Northern California, including planting vegetation on
river banks to reduce siltation, placing woody debris in streams to
create habitat suitable for salmon, and installing livestock control
fencing.
Data Collection Jobs Program
The data collection program, funded at $2 million and administered
by the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission (PSMFC), also
supported a number of projects in the three states, including hook and
mortality, troll gear selectivity, and fish-tagging studies. Both the
habitat restoration and data collection projects provide important
benefits to fish and fishermen. Improved habitat will help depleted
salmon stocks repopulate rivers and streams.
Better data on fish-fisherman interactions and salmon behavior will
lead to improvements in fisheries management decisions. And
dislocated fisherman benefit because they are the ones hired, at a
living wage of $10-$15 per hour, to carry out these projects.
Washington Salmon License Buyback Program
The remaining $4 million of NEAP went towards a license buyback
program in the state of Washington, which was administered by the
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. The buyback was
designed to reduce the overcapitalization and over-capacity of the
commercial salmon industry in Washington by permanently retiring as
many licenses as possible
NAOFRP - Northwest Atlantic Ocean Fisheries Reinvestment Program
FCRI - Fishing Capacity Reduction Initiative
After concluding a $2 million pilot effort to test capacity reduction in
the Northeast Multispecies fishery, SDIA announced a $25 million
Fishing Capacity Reduction Initiative (FCRI) program on August 28,
1996. The demonstration program resulted in spending $1.89 million to
scrap 11 vessels and revoke their fishing permits. These vessels
represented about 2% of active groundfish fishing capacity.
The expanded capacity reduction program is now being implemented
and is expected to result in the removal of between 75-80 vessels. This
is estimated to represent between 20-25% of active groundfish fishing
capacity. The primary goal will still be the same -- to permanently
reduce groundfishing capacity in the Northeast.
