By Matthew Daly
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - 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. Barbara Boxer of California and Ron Wyden of Oregon 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 California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski 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 of normal.