Three West Coast fisheries have been identified by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo as fishery disasters that are eligible for disaster help.
The 2019 Norton Sound Red King Crab in Alaska, the 2018 Port Gamble S’Klallam Puget Sound Coho Salmon in Washington and the 2019 Chehalis and Black River Spring Chinook Salmon in Washington met the criteria for eligibility.
“Fisheries are essential to our communities and economy and we want to ensure America is in a position to remain competitive on the global stage,” Raimondo said. “These determinations allow us to lend a helping hand to the fishing families and communities that have experienced very real and difficult setbacks in the last few years.”
The Secretary worked with NOAA Fisheries to review fishery disaster requests, which are based on submitted data and fall under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and/or the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act.
Such a designation allows these fisheries to qualify for assistance from NOAA, the Small Business Administration and the Department of Commerce, which has money left over from previously budgeted fishery disaster help and can reallocate those funds.