Bill aims to speed fisheries’ relief
North Coast U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) and Mississippi Reo. Steven Palazzo introduced a bill that is intended to speed up to the process of providing fisheries disaster relief to those affected.
Called the Fishery Failures: Urgently Needed Disaster Declarations Act — or the Fishery FUNDD Act — the bill would set a timeline for the federal government to respond to a fishery disaster request and set a timeline for disbursal of appropriated funds following a disaster.
“On the North Coast of California, we’ve seen how ocean heat waves, domoic acid blooms, and drought have led to devastating consequences for our most important fisheries,” Huffman said in a prepared statement. “As climate change impacts increase, it is more important than ever that we make sure fishing communities are as resilient as possible. That means ensuring the federal disaster relief process is implemented efficiently, and making sure funds are provided in a timely manner to those impacted by a fishery disaster.”
In April 2019, Huffman helped secure more than $29 million in disaster funding for communities affected by the 2015-16 season in which both the Dungeness crab fishery and the Yurok Chinook salmon fishery collapsed due to poor water quality.
But four years is “too long” to wait, Huffman said at the time.
“The failure of a fishing season is devastating to fishermen and their communities, but in recent years, the poor performance of our fishery disaster assistance program has itself become a disaster,” said Noah Oppenheim, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations in a statement. “Fishery disasters impact port communities, but they also harm the broader economy and limit Americans’ access to domestic seafood. This important bill will enhance our commercial fishing safety net, ensuring that fishery disaster assistance reaches communities in need in weeks instead of years.”
Last year, Oppenheim said the $29 million would be distributed to local crab fishermen, who would receive anywhere from $22,000 to $45,000 depending on the size of their operation.
“The funds will be used for long-deferred maintenance and upgrades to boats and equipment,” Oppenheim told the TimesStandard last year. “The commercial crab fishery lost an estimated $110 million in 2015-16 and this is just a Band-Aid on the economic impact.”