The Congress approved $170 million for disaster relief West Coast salmon fishermen and the Bush administration released $100 million but the salmon industry got &70 million less than the real amount. The amount was given to help those hurt by the sudden collapse of the Pacific Coast salmon industry. It is reported that the collapse left thousands of fishermen and dependent businesses struggling to make ends meet.
Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez informed that this disaster aid package of $100 million will help them get back on their feet. He added that of the initial $100 million, about $63 million will go to California, $25 million to Oregon and $12 million to Washington state. According to him the breakdown is based on the projected economic impacts of the fishing shutdown in each state.
However, the salmon advocates and congressional Democrats complained that the Bush administration was shortchanging fishermen in the three states by $70 million. They told that the Congress approved $170 million in disaster relief as part of the recent farm bill. Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., accused the Bush administration of siphoning the money from salmon fishermen to give it to an incompetent defense contractor that is overseeing the 2010 census.
In June this year the Bush administration announced that it wants to divert $70 million from the salmon relief fund to help pay for higher-than-expected cost of conducting the census. But the Commerce Department oversees the Census Bureau and NOAA Fisheries, the federal agency responsible for salmon recovery and planning. Bob Lohn, Northwest administrator of NOAA Fisheries, express that the salmon money was not being diverted, but merely delayed until the new budget year begins in October.
Lohn informed that the full $100 million is available now and over the next few months, the remaining money will be made available to fishermen as they apply for assistance. He, however, denied that the administration was engaged in any accounting tricks or attempts to shortchange fishermen.
