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May 2, 2008 10:32 am US/Pacific

Federal Agency Declares California Salmon Disaster

 Environment & The Green Beat

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ― Federal authorities have declared the ocean salmon fishery off the West Coast a failure.

That opens the way for Congress to appropriate economic disaster assistance for coastal communities in California, Oregon and Washington.

The NOAA Fisheries Service estimates that the value of this year's lost catch $22 million. In addition, losses to fishing boats, bait shops and other related businesses are estimated at $60 million in the three states.

It's the second year in the past three that a federal fishery failure has been declared for West Coast salmon.

This year's failure stems from the sudden collapse of California's Sacramento River Chinook salmon run. That's being blamed in part on a gauntlet of irrigation pumps that young fish have to swim past in the Sacramento Delta plus starvation conditions once they reach the ocean.

(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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