06:18 PM PDT on Monday, April 24, 2006

Associated Press

SALEM -- Gov. Ted Kulongoski declared a state of emergency Monday for coastal communities affected by the near shutdown of commercial salmon fishing this summer over poor chinook returns to California's Klamath River.

AP photo

A school of salmon.

The executive order directs state agencies do what they can for salmon fishermen and coastal communities, such as developing some fishing opportunities in state waters, offering training for new careers and providing unemployment benefits.

The declaration is also a required step in seeking a federal economic disaster declaration for commercial salmon fishermen, who landed $13 million worth of salmon in Oregon last year.

"We can't wait for the federal government's final decision before we take action to protect Oregonians who have already lost six weeks of fishing," Kulongoski said in a statement. "Oregon's fishermen and the people who work to support this important industry have already started to feel the pain of the cutbacks."

Federal fisheries managers this month recommended practically shutting down commercial salmon fishing along 700 miles of coast from Cape Falcon in Oregon near the Columbia River to Point Sur near Monterey, Calif. In Oregon, there is unlikely to be any fishing south of Florence, and a small fraction of a normal season north of Florence. Final action on the seasons is expected by the end of the month from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

For the third year in a row, returns of wild fall chinook to the Klamath River are projected to be below the minimum set in federal management plans for spawning a new generation.

The Klamath has been the focus of a long-standing struggle over allocating scarce water between farms and fish. Four hydroelectric dams cut off 300 miles of spawning habitat. With water quality poor and water levels chronically low, tens of thousands of adult salmon died in the river in 2002 from gill rot diseases, and parasites are killing untold numbers of young salmon migrating to the ocean.

Mark Newell, a Newport salmon fisherman and member of the Oregon Salmon Commission, welcomed the state of emergency declaration. He estimated that the 600 active Oregon salmon trollers could hope to catch only 700 fish each this year, about 10 percent of a normal season, earning enough money to barely cover fuel and maintenance costs.

"There are a lot of guys who really need it and will probably lose their boats," he said from the deck of a crab boat fishing off Newport.