February 10, 2016 — Gov. Jerry Brown Tuesday informed U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker via a letter that the state of California was requesting federal declarations of a fishery disaster and commercial fishery failure in response to the continued presence of unsafe levels of domoic acid in Dungeness and rock crab across the state.
The governor’s request Tuesday initiates an evaluation of a federal fishery resource disaster under the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act of 1986 and a commercial fishery failure under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976.
By declaring a federal disaster, affected fisheries would be able to receive economic assistance for losses incurred.
Typically a $90 million industry for the state annually, Brown estimated in his letter that the continued closures would cost $48 million in losses for Dungeness crab, and $376,000 for rock crab, based on estimated values of both species during the time period of November 2015 through June 2016.
Because the crabbing season is likely to remain delayed or closed for the remainder of the 2015-16 season, Brown predicts these estimates to only increase.
Mendocino County fisheries have also reported at least $4 million in losses, according to Tami Bartolomei, county Office of Emergency Services coordinator, who updated the Board of Supervisors during its Feb. 2 meeting. Bartolomei said she expected to keep receiving additional disaster economic worksheet claims from local fisheries that go to the U.S. Small Business Administration.
County supervisors that day authorized Bartolomei to send a letter to the state’s Office of Emergency Services requesting that Mendocino County be included on a list of other affected California counties for declaration considered by the U.S. Small Business Administration.
The U.S. Small Business Administration has since announced it was offering federal disaster loans to state small businesses that have suffered financial losses as a result of the crab ban. Mendocino County is among the dozens of counties on the SBA’s list of eligible areas.
North Coast Sen. Mike McGuire, also chairman of the state Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture, will host another meeting Thursday as part of the 43rd annual Zeke Grader Fisheries Forum in Sacramento. The meeting was scheduled prior to Brown’s letter, and will also cover the governor’s request for crab disaster declaration.