Washington, DC — Today, Congresswoman Darlene Hooley (OR-5) called on Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez to follow through on his commitment to seek emergency funds for salmon fishers suffering from a severely restricted salmon season.

On August 10th of this year the Secretary declared a commercial fishery failure in accordance with Section 312(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, opening the door for a congressional appropriation of emergency funding.  This disaster declaration is only the second time that a fishery failure has been declared before the end of a season.

The disaster declaration came on the heels of calls from Oregon and California leaders to the Secretary urging relief for fishers.  The Secretary announced the disaster declaration during a conference call with West Coast Senators, Governors, and Members of Congress.  During that call the Secretary committed to call the House Committee on Appropriations Chairman Jerry Lewis (CA-41) to seek emergency funds.

Six weeks have passed since the Secretary’s pledge, but he has yet to speak with Chairman Lewis. This inaction jeopardizes the chances of an appropriation, and the likelihood that fishers will get relief.

In a letter to Secretary Gutierrez, Hooley joined other West Coast members in calling on the Secretary to remain true to his word.

“We urge you to immediately fulfill your commitment to us by calling Chairman Lewis to request that he appropriate emergency funds before the end of this fiscal year.  The Chairman stated that until he receives a request from the Administration, there is little chance that emergency funds will be appropriated,” members wrote.

“The federal government has put our salmon fishers through the wringer,” said Hooley.  “Affected fishers and their families have faced months of hardship and we’re asking the Secretary to make one phone call.  It’s not too much to ask, and it’s a slap in the face to our fishers that he hasn’t already called.”