Alaska governor seeks disaster aid for weak salmon runs

By Yereth Rosen
ANCHORAGE, Alaska | Sat Jul 14, 2012 11:20pm EDT

(Reuters) - Alaska's governor asked the Obama administration on Saturday to declare a fisheries disaster for parts of the state where weak salmon runs are taking a toll on Native Alaskan villagers who rely on wild fish for food and as one of their few income sources.

Governor Sean Parnell made the request to acting Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank in a move that could free up some financial aid for impoverished residents of villages that depend on salmon from the Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers in western Alaska.

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If granted by the acting secretary, the disaster declaration would not automatically trigger financial aid. Such aid, available under federal law, would have to be appropriated by Congress, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service.

On the Kuskokwim River, the 2012 salmon return is shaping up as one of the worst in state history, according to state Department of Fish and Game figures. There have been rolling closures there for even the traditional subsistence harvests.

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