Federal aid finally on the way to Northern California for 2015 Dungeness crab disaster

April 30-- Apr. 30--Federal disaster aid is finally on the horizon for California crabbers who suffered through the 2015-16 commercial season, a period of unprecedented hardship that ushered in a new era of uncertainty over the potential for toxic algae to disrupt the fishery.

The long-awaited assistance for North Coast fishing communities -- including $25.6 million to bolster the state's struggling commercial crab industry -- should be delivered on June 1, coastal Reps. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, and Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, announced Monday.

The package contains $22.8 million in direct aid to crabbers and seafood processors affected by a 41/2-month delay in the commercial 2015-16 season, when the California fleet confronted overall revenue losses of 43% compared with the average of the previous five years, according to federal fisheries managers.

The disaster relief will be a welcomed windfall now, though frustration and disillusionment with the process muted reception to the news.

"It's about $28,000 for me, you know, and it should have been distributed a long time ago," said veteran Bodega Bay skipper Tony Anello, 70.

The timing is fortuitous for some because of a recent court settlement that resulted in the early closure of this year's Dungeness crab season on April 15 as part of an effort to remove crab gear from coastal waters when migrating whales are most likely to be present.

The agreement to finish the season 21/2 months early followed a lawsuit by the Center for Biological Diversity, which alleged the state Department of Fish and Wildlife did not take sufficient measures to prevent the crab industry from putting endangered and threatened whales and sea turtles at risk.

The resulting settlement could mean early closures of the fishery henceforth, depending on utilization of new technologies and abundance of marine animals in certain regions.

Anello is among those who usually fish for Dungeness crab until the last day of the season, June 30, so getting a relief check now "is going to help a lot," he said. "The way this late season closure, it really hurt us because the bills keep coming on, and the boat payments keep coming on, the insurance payments keep coming."

Another prominent Bodega Bay fisherman, Dick Ogg, said he's pretty confident the money will come through this time, but "it's taken an awfully long time."

"They've been told month after month it's coming," said Ogg, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations.

"And the delay after delay occurs, and experience should tell fishermen not to expect anything until there's a piece of paper with their name on it in the mail or in their hands, on in their account. ... It's an absurd situation, the 3 1/2 year journey to provide relief for an environmental disaster."

The aid package includes more than $14 million to be divided between 570 Dungeness crab permit holders in California, including about 60 in Bodega Bay.

They are to be paid according to the number of crab traps they were permitted for in the 2015-16 season -- from $42,680 for those permitted for 500 pots to $14,938 for those permitted for 175.

Seafood processors will share in $7.3 million, depending on the history of how much volume they handled in the past, while commercial passenger vessels will get a share of $664,115.

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