Oregon commercial salmon fishery disaster funds: $7M available

SALEM, Ore. – A total of $7,050,722 is available to Oregon to address poor performance of Oregon's ocean commercial salmon fisheries for 2018, 2019, and 2020. This includes impacts to commercial fishermen, processors, and the fishing ecosystem and environment.

The "Oregon Spend Plan," vetted through NOAA Fisheries and the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission (PSMFC) is now available for public review and comment. The plan is posted on the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's website. Input should be sent to orsalmon.disaster@odfw.oregon.gov by May 13.

ODFW worked directly with fishing industry representatives to draft the spend plan.

All applications are submitted directly to the PSMFC which has not yet announced an opening date. Application periods typically are two months long.

PSMFC reviews applications in the order they are processing all the declared fishery disasters – successful applicants likely will receive funds sometime between Jan. 1, 2025 through Dec. 31, 2029.

More information can be found at www.psmfc.org

Funds are intended to be used for activities that restore the fishery or prevent a similar failure in the future and assist fishing communities affected by such failure.

A link to former Governor Kate Brown's 2021 letter to the Secretary of Commerce is also posted here.