NOAA 94- R705

Contact: Tamela Graham FOR IMMEDIATE

RELEASE

COMMERCE ANNOUNCES FINAL PLAN FOR DISTRIBUTING

$12 MILLION PACIFIC NORTHWEST FISHERIES AID PACKAGE The Department of Commerce announced today a final plan for a $12 million financial aid package that combines short-term economic assistance to fishermen in the Pacific Northwest -- whose income has dropped substantially as a result of the collapse of salmon stocks in the region -- with long-term

assistance to the salmon resource. 
     The plan was first proposed last month by the National

the depletion of the salmon fishery off the coasts of Washington, Oregon and northern California.

The assistance program includes a $4 million provision to buy salmon fishing permits, administered through the state of Washington's Department of Fish and Wildlife; a $6 million habitat restoration employment program, administered by the Agriculture Department's Soil Conservation Service; and a

$2 million data collection jobs program, administered through the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission.

The $12 million disaster aid, part of a $15.7 million financial aid package, is made available through the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act, a 1986 law that provides assistance to fishing communities affected by a fishery resource disaster.

In recent years, landings of chinook and coho salmon have declined dramatically. The commercial salmon fishery off Washington and northern Oregon was closed this year and remaining ocean salmon fisheries off central and southern Oregon and northern California are at record low levels.

"The aid package will assist fishermen whose livelihood has been substantially affected by collapse of the salmon stocks," said John Bullard, director of NOAA's Office of Sustainable Development. "In addition, the package helps rebuild the salmon fishery in the long run."

Based on estimates of the impact that the collapse of salmon stocks in the Pacific Northwest has on each state, the fisheries service has targeted 55 percent of the total $12 million package for fishermen in the state of Washington, and 22.5 percent each for fishermen in Oregon and California. These are target distributions, not fixed percentages.

The habitat restoration program will hire both tribal and non-tribal fishermen to perform work that has a long-term benefit to salmon habitat. The data collection jobs program will employ tribal and non-tribal fishermen to collect information useful to scientists and fishery managers.

Both jobs programs will pay up to $10 to $15 per hour, depending on the locality of the job and the skills it requires. After carefully reviewing comments from the proposed plan outlined in the original Federal Register notice, the final rule loosens eligibility criteria so that there is more flexibility in determining a fisherman's need and the amount of a fisherman's uninsured loss.

The $12 million financial aid plan was filed yesterday with the Federal Register. NOAA is currently drawing up agreements with the implementing agencies. Questions about the plan can be sent to Stephen Freese, Northwest Emergency Assistance Plan, National Marine Fisheries Service, BIN C15700, Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115.

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