Sonoma County snags disaster relief designation for salmon fishery devastation

Small businesses in Sonoma County and 30 other California counties may now apply for federal disaster loans based on the economic impact of this year’s salmon fishery closure.

The fishery closure occurred April 6 to Oct. 31. On April 6, Gov. Gavin Newsom asked the federal government in April to declare a federal fishery disaster. The U.S. Small Business Administration acted under its own authority Dec. 1, to declare a disaster to help a beleaguered industry.

Sonoma County is one of seven primary counties with “preliminary damage assessments,” enabling its area businesses to receive low-interest, 30-year economic impact loans of up to $2 million based on need and availability.

Eight Sonoma County businesses were tapped to respond to county OES inquiries to help make their case. Among them, five answered. The average loss listed amounted to about $80,000 for individual vessels such as New Horizons and Sonja. But Dandy Fish Co. of Bodega Bay has endured losses topping $112,000 with the loss of the 2023 commercial salmon season.

Logging 23 years in Bodega Bay, Craig Thomsson sells seafood to restaurants and fish markets.

At age 51, Thomsson said he’s not ready to retire, but he has worried about whether to throw money at a failing business model. He’s on the hook to pay a 5-year lease to Lucas Wharf and has put his “heart and soul into this basket.” Beyond the rent, he also must satisfy insurance and labor costs.

“This year is super tough. Salmon is huge for us. That’s how we can pay our bills. I don’t want to think about Plan B, but (the challenge) has become more real,” he said. “Twenty years ago, it was such a great business. But if you look at the big picture of fish, we already know by the numbers, it’ll be pretty nil.”

It’s especially rough on those who have fish in their blood. Thomsson’s father was a commercial fisherman.

The dock operator and wholesale marketer said he’s leaning away from taking a loan because it still must be paid back.

“Chasing money is never a good business plan,” he said.

Tony Anello, who runs Spud Point Crab Co., can’t take his boat out to fish. So instead, he’ll concentrate on keeping his Bodega Bay restaurant going with other delicacies.

“It’s really sad. Salmon is closed for everybody, (affecting) commercial and recreation and gear stores. We’re all suffering. It should be a grant, not a loan,” Anello said of the SBA assistance. “Our focus is on the restaurant. Thank God we have that.”

Bodega Bay Chamber of Commerce President Shona Campbell, who runs Rocker Oysterfellers, said the impact goes way beyond fishery businesses. Although she shied away from estimating the small coastal town’s economic impact, she is convinced the closure has taken a huge toll on all types of companies in the area.

“It impacts fishermen, but it also impacts tourism. Bodega Bay used to be a viable business (climate),” she said. “It’s just tragic.”

In Sonoma County, the salmon fishing industry is valued at $3.8 million — with 640,008 pounds caught, according to the local government’s 2022 crop report.

“Salmon was the highest earning fish for Sonoma County’s commercial fishing industry in 2022. As commercial fishers have had to shift and scale their operations, SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan could provide relief for economic activity lost this year,” Sonoma County Economic Development Board Executive Director Ethan Brown said.

One county official with fisheries in her district expressed the same sentiment in respect to the economic challenges.

“Small businesses in Sonoma County that rely on salmon fishing for their livelihood were devastated when the fishery was shut down,” said county Supervisor Lynda Hopkins, whose district encompasses the Sonoma Coast. Hopkins added the business loans are intended “to help them recover.”

The SBA also lists other, bordering counties, with the presumption that those “may have suffered economic injury as well.” These include Napa, Marin, Solano, Mendocino and Lake.

“We have lost 80% of our fleets in the last 40 years,” said Glen Spain, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, which manages about a dozen fishing groups. He defined California’s $45 million fishing industry as being especially hard hit with state Fish and Wildlife’s permits dropping from 7,744 in 1980 to 1,006 this year.

“These loans are trying to keep people intact as much as possible,” Spain said.

Businesses and small agricultural cooperatives may apply for loans at an interest rate of 4%. Nonprofits may request aid at a rate of 2.3759%, according to SBA’s spokesman George Kostyrko. The deadline to apply is Aug. 29, 2024.

This year’s salmon season was closed to allow the stock to recover.

Years of drought conditions reduced water levels, making it difficult for adult salmon to swim upriver to spawn. Water temperatures also often hovered at about 68 degrees in the West Coast watersheds, making it too warm for the salmon eggs to mature since salmon thrive in water temperatures of 53.5 degrees and below.

The salmon devastation goes far beyond environmental issues.

“When we land the fish, that’s only the beginning of a long chain of events,” Spain said, referring to how the fish go to market and on to restaurants.

Beyond the SBA loans, California Fish and Wildlife officials are working on more funding from the National Marine Fisheries to assist in the fish business recovery.

“We know that the fish that were supposed to return were the fish born during the drought,” said Chester Lindley, an environmental scientist with Fish and Wildlife’s Ocean Salmon Project.

As for solutions, Lindley said he’s at least somewhat encouraged that California may experience another winter of heavy precipitation from a “super El Nino.”

“With more water, the fish will have a better chance to make it back to the ocean. Then hopefully, the reservoirs can be managed in a way to help them,” he said.

Susan Wood covers law, cannabis, production, tech, energy, transportation, agriculture as well as banking and finance. She can be reached at 530-545-8662 or susan.wood@busjrnl.com