June 25, 2024 — The federal government is sending nearly $12 million to Alaska to address salmon fishery disasters on the Kuskokwim River and in Upper Cook Inlet, United States Department of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo announced on June 21.
The aid money is for disasters declared for the 2022 chum salmon failure on the Kuskokwim River and the 2021-2022 sockeye salmon failure that affected Upper Cook Inlet setnet fishers. Aid for the Kuskokwim River disaster totaled $331,920, while aid for the Upper Cook Inlet sockeye disaster totaled nearly $11.5 million, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which is a branch of the Commerce Department.
Alaska is not the only state affected by poor salmon returns. Along with the June 21 announcement of aid for those affected by the Alaska salmon disasters, the Commerce Department announced $403,978 in aid for the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe’s 2021 Puget Sound fall chum and coho salmon fisheries in Washington state.
“Each year we see how climate change continues to have severe impacts on the fisheries and ecosystems that are vital to our economy, and the Commerce Department is working to mitigate these impacts,” Raimondo said in a statement issued by NOAA. “This funding will assist with the recovery of salmon fisheries in communities across Alaska and Puget Sound by bolstering fisheries restoration efforts, minimizing the risk of future disasters and helping build back stronger.”