Letter to Penny Pritzker, Secretary of Commerce - Members of California Delegation Push for Federal Disaster Declaration in Crab Fisheries

Letter

Dear Secretary Pritzker:

Earlier this week, Governor Jerry Brown wrote to you to request that you declare a fishery resource disaster in the California Dungeness crab and rock crab fisheries under section 308(d) of the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act of 1986, and a commercial fishery failure under section 312(a) of the Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976. This declaration will allow our communities to receive desperately-needed aid. We write in support of the Governor's request for a disaster declaration, and ask that you work with the state to quickly complete the review process.

The closures of the commercial Dungeness crab fishery and the partial closure of the rock crab fishery are causing severe economic hardship in California's fishing communities. These fisheries are crucial to the coastal economy of central and northern California -- last year, revenue from the sales of Dungeness crabs alone was estimated at just below $60 million.

The cause of the closure, an unprecedented toxic bloom of the marine diatom Pseudo-nitzchia australis, has led to elevated levels of the neurotoxin domoic acid, which persist in the crabs' bodies and in the environment and can be transmitted to humans via the food supply. While we remain hopeful that the toxin levels will continue to fall, our fishermen and coastal communities have already missed out on the most lucrative sales of the year. Many of these fishermen may not be able to catch enough crab this year to make ends meet, and the coastal communities that rely on this important source of revenue are already suffering.

Although the recent lifting of the health advisory for Dungeness crab south of Point Reyes is encouraging, the closure of the fishery has already resulted in lasting negative social and economic effects to fishery stakeholders and coastal communities along the coast of California. The Governor of California estimates that the direct economic impact from the commercial closures to date is at least $48.3 million for Dungeness crab and $376,000 for rock crab, as well as untold losses to other sectors of the fishing industry such as processors and distributors.

Given the severe hardship our constituents are currently experiencing, we urge you to review the Governor's request as expeditiously as possible. Thank you for your consideration.