On December 20, The FISHES Act, spearheaded by Congressman Byron Donalds, passed the U.S. Senate and came a few weeks after the critical bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives with a unanimous bipartisan voice vote. The bill is now headed to the President’s desk for signature and should be signed into law over the next few days.
In an effort to prevent future delays in much-needed disaster relief getting into the hands of fishing families as quickly as possible, GSSA signed on and mobilized support for the legislation over the last 5 months. Currently, California’s salmon fishing community continues to wait for disaster relief funds to be distributed for the 2023 closure – nearly 2 years after the disaster was declared. GSSA continues to be in contact with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and is seeking a new update. GSSA has been working to cut through the red tape of the disaster relief funds process. In early December, our friends in Congress let us know that the timing on the distribution of funds are still being held up at the OMB. NOAA fisheries has assured that the funds will be sent to the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission by the end of this month. Congress has strongly urged them to expedite their process to get funds out and they have been receptive.
“The California salmon fishery is in its second year of closure and that means fishing families have lost most of their income. The impacts are personal, as well as economic, and they are desperately waiting for disaster relief funding that can often take years to receive,” said Scott Artis, executive director of Golden State Salmon Association. “The FISHES Act is a critical lifeline for fishing businesses and will ensure much needed funding is quickly distributed to thousands of families who struggle to put food on the table, make mortgage payments, and keep their boats from being repossessed during fishery disasters. We can’t allow what has happened to fishing families in 2023 and 2024 to continue – it’s unacceptable that through no fault of their own, the fishing industry is still waiting to receive some relief after two years of no work.”
The FISHES Act is broadly-supported, bipartisan legislation to improve the federal regulatory process associated with the allocation of fishery disaster relief. Specifically, this commonsense and solutions-oriented bill seeks to expedite the distribution of federal disaster relief following official fishery disaster declarations.
“During a time of natural disaster, time can often be the difference between life and death,” said House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman. “For our nation’s fisheries, delays in disaster requests can cause catastrophic destruction to these vital resources and coastal communities. Today, we passed Congressman Donalds’ FISHES Act which will create timelines for disaster requests to ensure our fisheries can be supported when natural disasters strike. I’d like to thank Congressman Donalds for his leadership on this issue for all Americans.”