NEWPORT - Worried salmon fishermen in the throes of unprecedented season closures delivered an urgent message to the governor on Friday:

They still need help. And they need it now.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski came to Newport to attend the second round of a "Salmon Summit," during which state and federal officials met to consider how to buoy the fleet. Fishermen will go out Sunday in search of salmon for the first time this year.

Normally, they would have been fishing since early spring, but poor returns on the Klamath River forced Draconian cuts to the number of days trollers can fish this year and the amount of chinook salmon they can haul in. Salmon fishing is expected to earn $2.5 million in coastal communities this year, a stark 79 percent drop from the past four years, when it averaged $11.7 million per year.

What the governor heard from fishermen who crowded the council chamber at Newport City Hall was universal: We need direct financial assistance.

"We've gotten nothing so far," said Jeff Reeves, a Charleston troller and vice president of the Oregon Salmon Commission.

Kulongoski issued an executive order on April 26 declaring an economic disaster in the fishery industry, but that does little more than pressure the federal government to provide funding through Congress. Last month, Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., tried unsuccessfully to add $81 million to a $109 billion emergency spending bill that would have brought immediate help. Senate rules prevented the allocation because the season closures don't qualify as a "natural" disaster.

On Friday, the governor said he would write to President Bush asking for a disaster declaration that could trigger dollars from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He also announced that he has directed the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board to secure more than $2 million for watershed restoration projects to make sure that future salmon runs are viable. And he pledged to issue an executive order enabling the state Parks & Recreation Department and other agencies to give preference to members of the fleet when hiring temporary employees in coastal parks.

Also, Oregon's coastal caucus of state lawmakers is planning to ask for $2 million to $3 million in state emergency funds to stabilize the industry.

Meanwhile, fishermen continue to struggle.

"Fishermen aren't going to be park rangers," Tillamook County Commissioner Mark Lockhart said. "That's just not what they do."

There were some new ideas presented on Friday, however. The watershed enhancement board's director, Tom Byler, reported that the agency has developed a five-point strategy to address the fleet's woes, securing funding for ocean research and land-based restoration projects that could employ fishermen.

Lincoln County Commissioner Terry Thompson urged the governor to make sure that land use laws regulating waterfront properties are enforced. As businesses that cater to the fishing industry close, they're likely to be bought up by other entities.

"If the fishery comes back and those businesses are gone, it becomes almost impossible to execute the fishery," Thompson said. "Once these properties are taken over, the fishing industry won't be able to come back."

Representatives for federal lawmakers said they have not given up trying to get immediate funding. Smith aide Terri Mitchell said there's a way to reprogram 2006 dollars from the Office of Management and Budget that were initially earmarked for other uses but haven't been spent yet.

"We're turning over every rock looking for some funds," said Scott Winkels, who works for Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.

Winston Ross can be reached at 541-902-9030 or rgcoast@oregonfast.net.