WASHINGTON (AP) Two
Democratic senators let a fisheries
management bill go forward
Thursday, after Senate leaders
agreed to a provision making
West Coast salmon fishermen eligible
for disaster assistance.
Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon
and Barbara Boxer of California
had said they would block a bill
reauthorizing the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation
and Management Act until the
Senate considered steps to help
coastal communities in their
states survive a sharply curtailed
salmon fishing season.
Magnuson-Stevens is the
major law governing fisheries in
the United States. A Senate vote
was expected as early as
Thursday night.
West Coast lawmakers have
pushed Commerce Secretary
Carlos Gutierrez to declare a
salmon disaster, following a decision
by the Bush administration
to sharply reduce the commercial
salmon fishing season in a 700-
mile stretch of Oregon and
Northern California coastal
waters. The decision by the
National Marine Fisheries
Service was aimed at protecting
struggling returns of chinook
salmon in the Klamath River.
Wyden said he, Boxer, and
other West Coast lawmakers will
seek money to pay for fishing
assistance. The amendment
Wyden sought was needed before
the money can be approved. The
amendment also would enable the
Commerce Department to redirect
money in the current budget
for salmon fishing relief.
Both Oregon Gov. Ted
Kulongoski and California Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger have proclaimed
states of emergency in
areas affected.
The fisheries service, an arm
of the Commerce Department,
has said the reduced fishing seasons
will produce about 40 percent
of the West Coast's normal
catch, but salmon fishermen say
they expect only 10 percent.
