The US Department of Commerce has allocated $123.6 million in fishery resource disaster funding to address commercial fishing failures in Alaska, California, Oregon, and Washington.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) stated the funds were appropriated by Congress under the American Relief Act of 2025.
The federal assistance targets fishery resource disasters occurring between 2019 and 2023, with allocations determined by NOAA Fisheries using commercial revenue loss data.
Among the affected regions are the Bering Sea snow crab fishery in Alaska, the ocean commercial salmon fishery in Oregon, and the Sacramento River and Klamath River Fall Chinook salmon fisheries in California.
Funding will also support the Chignik and Upper Cook Inlet East Side Setnet salmon fisheries in Alaska, alongside the Squaxin Island Tribe Puget Sound fall chum salmon fishery in Washington.
According to the agency, the funds are intended to improve the long-term economic sustainability of the impacted fisheries. To help communities recover, eligible uses for the disaster assistance include fishery-related infrastructure projects, habitat restoration, state-run vessel and fishing permit buybacks, and job retraining.
