(SitNews) Juneau, Alaska - The Alaska Department of Fish and Game was informed recently that, in response to the Governor Dunleavy's request, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo found that the following Alaska Fisheries met the requirements for a fishery disaster determination.

• 2018 Upper Cook Inlet East Side Set Net and 2020 Upper Cook Inlet salmon fisheries
• 2018 Copper River Chinook and sockeye salmon fisheries, 2020 Prince William Sound salmon fisheries, and 2020 Copper River Chinook, sockeye, and chum salmon fisheries
• 2019/2020 Eastern Bering Sea Tanner crab
• 2020 Pacific cod in the Gulf of Alaska
• 2020 Alaska Norton Sound, Yukon River, Chignik, Kuskokwim River, and Southeast Alaska Salmon Fisheries 
• 2021 Yukon River salmon fishery

Positive determinations make these fisheries eligible for disaster assistance from NOAA. It does not provide funding or authorization for payments. The Secretary, working with NOAA Fisheries, evaluates each fishery disaster request based primarily on data submitted by the requesting state. A declared fishery disaster must meet specific requirements under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and/or the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act.

"This finding is the first step towards some sorely needed economic relief for many Alaskan fishers and fishery-related businesses and families." said ADF&G Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang. "We look forward to helping expedite this process wherever we can help, including working with our Congressional delegation to provide funding for these declared disasters."

This determination provides a basis for Congress to appropriate disaster relief funding. If Congress appropriates disaster relief funding for these fisheries, the State of Alaska will work with NOAA Fisheries and the affected stakeholders to develop a spending plan. The determination of the appropriate allocation of funds for these disasters will be decided once funding is provided. Impacted users will be involved in the development of spend plans.

The Alaska Delegation welcomed determinations from the Department of Commerce that fishery disasters have occurred in numerous Alaska fisheries, allowing them to receive critical relief funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The funding can be distributed to fishermen and their crews, seafood processors, and research initiatives in the impacted regions.

“Alaska’s fisheries are economic and subsistence lifelines for individuals and communities across our state, and they also produce more than $15 billion in national value each year. Their strength and vibrancy is one of my top priorities, and the reason I have been pushing the administration to make disaster declarations to help overcome a number of remarkably challenging seasons,” Senator Murkowski said. “These determinations, and the funding they will allow, are a welcome relief for all who have been impacted. I thank the Department of Commerce and NOAA for supporting Alaskans, and Secretary Raimondo for her commitment to work with us to create a more efficient process moving forward.”

“Our state has suffered extraordinary economic hardship over the last few years with the impacts of the pandemic layered on top of an unprecedented number of fishery disasters,” Senator Sullivan said. “Our great fisheries resources provide a pillar within Alaska’s economy and culture. Now that a fishery disaster has been declared, we can work to secure appropriations to fund these fishery disaster declarations. I want to thank Secretary Raimondo, who I recently hosted in a meeting with several members of United Fishermen of Alaska, for working so closely with the Alaska Congressional Delegation on these important determinations that will allow for much needed fishery disaster relief to reach Alaskans who are reliant on this resource.”

"Our state's fisheries are a central part of our economy and way of life, particularly for Alaska Natives who have harvested fish from our waters for millennia. The past couple of years have been tough for Alaska's fisheries, causing immense pain for our hardworking fishing communities,” said Congressman Young. “Today's news from the Department of Commerce is a bright spot for our fishermen, processors, and others who rely on a strong and vibrant seafood sector. I want to thank Secretary Raimondo for declaring a fisheries disaster and working with the Alaska Delegation to invest this critical relief in our state. In Congress, I will continue standing up for commercial, subsistence, and recreational fishing across Alaska."