Oregon gov. seeks disaster relief for salmon industry
Associated Press
NEWTOK, AK - JULY 01: Joseph John Jr. washes freshly caught salmon with his son, Jeremiah John, while waiting for the tide to come in on July 1, 2015 in Newtok, Alaska. Newtok has a population of approximately of 375 ethnically Yupik people and was established along the shores of the Ninglick River, near where the river empties into the Bering Sea, by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) in 1959. The Yupik people have lived on the coastal lands along the Bering Sea for thousands of years. As global temperatures rise the village is being threatened by the melting of permafrost, greater ice and snow melt and larger storms from the Bering Sea. According to the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, the highest elevated point in Newtok - the school - could be underwater by 2017. Approximately nine miles away, Mertarvik has been established, though families have been slow to relocate to the new village. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon Gov. Kate Brown is requesting disaster relief from the federal government for the state’s strained commercial salmon industry.
Oregon Public Broadcasting reports the governor submitted the formal aid request this week to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Brown said in her letter the economic return from commercial salmon fishing along most of the coast since 2018 has been less than one-third of what it was in previous years. Brown said the trend is having severe effects on already distressed rural communities and businesses that depend on salmon.
