The Pacific Fishery Management Council voted Thursday to cancel all commercial salmon fishing off California and Oregon this year due to the collapse of the Sacramento River king salmon population.
This year's West Coast salmon harvest is forecast to be one of the worst on record - Washington's salmon fishery, due to open May 1, is also projected to be lackluster this year.
"For the entire West Coast, this is the worst in history," Don McIsaac, the council's executive director, said at yesterday's meeting in Seattle.
The governors of Washington, Oregon and California have already signed letters seeking a disaster declaration. Congress will be asked to make a fast decision on funding to alleviate the suffering of fishermen, National Marine Fisheries Service spokesman Brian Gorman told the Associated Press.
The salmon fisheries in California and Oregon have been reeling since 2006, when they were scaled back considerably to protect Klamath River king salmon.
