Contact: Matt Stout FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
10/31/96
NOAA Announces Application Criteria for Disaster Assistance
Plan to Aid Commercial Salmon Fishermen
Criteria by which commercial salmon fishermen can apply for assistance under a $5.2 million federal vessel permit buyout program were announced today by the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The program will provide financial assistance to those adversely impacted by the collapse of the salmon fishery, while helping the resource recover.
NOAA awarded $5.2 million to Washington state on Sept. 30 for phase two of the Washington Salmon License Buyout Program, but waited to announce the application criteria until public comments on proposed program options could be solicited and evaluated.
"We have worked very closely with the Governor's office and the state's Department of Fish and Wildlife to design a formula that is fair to those who have suffered the greatest impacts of the fishery disaster," said Douglas K. Hall, NOAA deputy administrator. "This program not only will compensate fishermen for their losses, but will also benefit the fishery resource in the long-term. This is truly a sustainable development approach to the salmon disaster."
Unlike the first phase of the buyout program, phase two will use a competitive ranking system that is based on actual losses incurred by the fishermen. In addition, awards will be limited to $75,000 under this program and participants prohibited from purchasing or operating a commercial salmon license for 10 years, unless he or she owned that license in 1995.
NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service designed the competitive system in response to criticism that the original program resulted in the buyout of a large number of marginal permits. The new system will give commercial salmon fishermen with substantial financial losses a greater opportunity to compete in the buyout program.
Here's how the new program works: the participant calculates his or her salmon disaster impact (SDI) by taking salmon fishery income derived from fishing during any calendar year (base year) from 1986-1991 minus the least amount of salmon fishery income derived from commercial salmon fishing during any calendar year (comparison year) between 1991-1995, and multiplying this number by 2.5. The fisherman then divides his or her bid by this number. This last number represents the offer ratio. Those with the lowest offer ratios will be chosen first until the funds for each allocated category of fishermen are exhausted.
The new program criteria were published in today's Federal Register.
The permit buyout program, funded by NOAA, will be administered through the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The first phase of the program was implemented for $4 million last year by NOAA's Office of Sustainable Development under the Northwest Emergency Assistance Plan; 296 salmon fishery permits were retired.
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