Commerce Secretary Gina M. Raimondo has determined eight Alaska and Washington fisheries between 2019 and 2023—including the 2020 Copper River/Prince William Sound coho and pink salmon fisheries—meet requirements for fishery disaster relief.
“America’s fisheries are a critical part of our national economy and directly impact our local communities when disasters occur,” Raimondo said in a declaration issued on Friday, Dec. 16. “These determinations are a way to assist those fishing communities with financial relief to mitigate impacts, restore fisheries and help prevent future disasters.”
To qualify as a declared fishery disaster, each fishery must meet specific requirements under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and/or the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act.
There must, for example, be a commercial fishery failure and significant declines in fishery access or available catch resulting from specific allowable causes—such as natural causes beyond the control of fishery managers to mitigate.
Positive determinations make these fisheries eligible for disaster assistance from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, pending the availability of congressionally appropriated funds. These fisheries may also qualify for disaster assistance from the Small Business Administration.
Alaska’s congressional delegation said they welcomed the declarations—which are a first step toward
Alaska commercial harvesters, including crew and seafood processors, receiving financial relief.
The declarations also will impact research initiatives for impacted areas.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said these fisheries have faced incredible challenges—from fall red king crab and winter snow crab harvests being cancelled to a number of salmon fishery disasters. These events, she said, are not only devastating to the seafood industry, but to Alaska’s economy as a whole. Murkowski said she is working to push policy initiatives to help understand related underlying issues, including through appropriations and legislation like the Alaska Salmon Research Task Force Act, which just passed the U.S. Senate.
Now that the fishery disaster has been declared, the group said they will work to secure appropriations to fund the declarations.
The fisheries approved for disaster aid also include the 2022-2023 Bristol Bay red king crab and Bering Sea snow crab fisheries, 2021-2022 Alaska Bristol Bay red king crab and Bering Sea snow crab fisheries,
2021 Alaska Kuskokwim River salmon, Norton Sound chum and coho salmon fisheries, 2021 Chignik salmon fishery, 2020 and 2021 Alaska Norton Sound red king crab fisheries, 2020 Washington ocean salmon fisheries, 2020 Copper River/Prince William Sound coho and pink salmon fisheries, and Washington’s Columbia River, Willapa Bay and Puget Sound salmon fisheries.
