Senate directs funds to 2016 fisheries disasters

Kayla Desroches/KMXT

The state may be a step closer to securing relief funds for the Gulf of Alaska 2016 pink fishery disaster.

Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan signed off on a letter to the United States Senate this year in which they wrote that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimated a need of $150 million in Alaska.

According to a press release through Murkowski’s office, the Bipartisan Budget Act passed the senate with $200 million to go towards fisheries disaster recovery in Alaska, California, and Washington. The act connects that relief funding to money that will go to communities recovering from hurricanes and wildfires.

It’s still unclear how much of the $200 million will end up in Alaska. As stated in the press release, the areas slated to receive funds are Chignik, Kodiak, Lower Cook Inlet, Prince William Sound, South Alaska Peninsula, Southeast, and Yakutat.

Edit 2/15: A former version of this article wrote that Oregon had received funding, but it’s Alaska, California, and Washington that will benefit from the relief funds.