June 11, 2024 3:50 a.m.

Last week Oregon Senator’s Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden along with Representatives Suzanne Bonamici, Val Hoyle, and Andrea Salinas sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Administrator Bruce Summers, calling on the agency to deliver federal support to west coast fishermen, and seafood harvesters, processors and distributors.

The letter from the lawmakers said, “Commercial fishing and seafood processing on the West Coast are significant contributors to the nation’s seafood production and agricultural economy”. They continued, “The industry serves as the economic backbone for numerous small ports and rural coastal communities in Oregon. Fishing activities are deeply ingrained in the local culture and way of life across the Oregon Coast”.

The joint release said the west coast seafood industry has been largely left out of previous USDA commodity purchasing programs in the past, until the lawmakers successfully pushed for major purchasing breakthroughs in recent years including the USDA’s $52 million purchase of Pacific Groundfish and seafood products last year. The group said the change has proven essential, especially in Oregon’s smaller coastal communities that are continuing to recover from the impacts spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, international conflicts and many other factors.

The lawmaker’s letter calls on the USDA to include the Pacific Northwest and West Coast seafood products that are currently produced in large volumes and that are easily accessible and transportable in this year’s Section 32 purchases for immediate distribution to food assistance programs. This includes west coast Whiting fillets and Rockfish fillets in 2024.

The full text of the letter is linked: https://www.merkley.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/24.06.05-GSL-USDA-Seafood-