WASHINGTON — The Commerce Department released $53 million to Oregon and California on Thursday to help West Coast salmon fishermen after the third fishery failure in four years.
Commerce Secretary Gary Locke declared the latest disaster in a letter to the governors of the two states. He cited continued low number of fish returning to the Sacramento River in California. The river is the second largest producer of salmon on the West Coast.
Locke released $53.1 million in unspent money from a fishery disaster declared last year. A total of $46.4 million will go to California and $6.7 million to Oregon.
Locke’s decision opens the way for Congress to allocate more money for salmon fishermen. Congress appropriated $170 million in disaster aid in 2008 and $60 million in 2006.
“The extension of the disaster declaration will ensure that aid will be available to affected fisherman and their families to help offset the economic impact of the closure of the commercial fisheries,” Locke said. “These funds can also aid fishing-related businesses, such as ice and bait suppliers, who may struggle with the financial effects of the closure.”
Fishing for chinook salmon, also known as king salmon, has been closed for months off California and most of Oregon due to dangerously low returns to the Sacramento.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., hailed the decision, which he said will help keep fishing families afloat in the short term until efforts by the Obama administration to improve fish runs pay off.
“Secretary Locke’s timely and appropriate response is a clear indication of how fishing communities in Oregon, Washington and California will benefit from having a commerce secretary from the West Coast who is familiar with their issues,” Wyden said. Locke, who took office in March, is a former two-term governor of Washington.
West Coast salmon fishermen have been struggling since the mid-1990s, when cutbacks to protect threatened and endangered species allowed salmon farms to fill markets with low-priced fish.
Fishermen started handling their catch more carefully, offering a premium product, and prices rose until 2006, when the number of fish returning to the Klamath River in Northern California plummeted, prompting the first fishery failure declaration for Oregon and California.
Seasons were generous in 2007, but catches were poor, and in 2008 forecasts up and down the coast were dire, prompting the second fishery failure declaration, this one covering California, Oregon and Washington. Fishermen, tribes and related businesses were eligible for federal money.
This year, the collapse focused on the Sacramento River. Returns to the Columbia River, the region’s biggest salmon producer, were on the increase. Coho returns in Oregon and points north were also on the upswing, allowing some commercial and recreational fishing off the coasts of Oregon and Washington.
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