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North Coast Congressman Jared Huffman announced today that the federal government has allocated $25.8 million in disaster assistance to those affected by the 2015-2016 closure of California’s commercial Dungeness and rock crab fisheries and another $3.9 million to the Yurok Tribe stemming from the collapse of the fall Chinook fishery in 2016.

“For far too long, the North Coast has been waiting for this federal support to relieve the economic burden from several disastrous fishing seasons,” Huffman said in a statement. “I know that the path to recovery for our fishing communities is long but I’m grateful to see some help is finally on the way.”

The federal allocation from Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross comes after Congress passed a bipartisan budget deal in February that provided $200 million in fishery disaster relief.

See the full press release from Huffman’s office copied below:

Rep. Huffman Applauds Federal Funding for California Fishery Disasters

Washington, D.C.- Congressman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) today announced that $25.8 million in federal disaster assistance will be allocated to individuals and businesses affected by the 2015-2016 closure of California’s commercial Dungeness and rock crab fisheries, along with $3.9 million to the Yurok Tribe which suffered a disaster in the fall Chinook fishery in 2016.

“For far too long, the North Coast has been waiting for this federal support to relieve the economic burden from several disastrous fishing seasons,” said Rep. Huffman. “Congress provided this fishery disaster funding and I’m glad that it is finally being delivered to communities in need. I know that the path to recovery for our fishing communities is long, but I’m grateful to see that some help is finally on the way.”

Rep. Huffman has been a tireless advocate for these struggling fishing communities andmost recently led a group of bipartisan lawmakers in urging Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to quickly provide these allocations for the Pacific coast fishery disasters that were declared in 2017.

The bipartisan budget deal that passed Congress in February included this overdue fishery disaster relief for fishing communities. Fishery disaster funding was also distributed today to Alaska, Washington, and states and territories affected by 2017’s hurricanes.