KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
Kayla Desroches/KMXT
The funding amount for the 2016 Gulf of Alaska pink salmon season disaster is on the verge of being announced.
The City of Kodiak and Kodiak Island Borough’s federal lobbyist, Brad Gilman, updated Kodiak’s joint Fisheries Work Group at its meeting yesterday morning.
Gilman said they thought they would hear the number before Memorial Day, but the funding may have been held up on Capitol Hill waiting for final approval.
“A couple of things may have happened. The appropriations staff over in the House … they may have just been overwhelmed with all the work they were doing to move their bill and they may have just pushed the issue aside and it’s also possible that people took off on vacation and people in the decision-making side weren’t there to sign off.”
Gilman said once Alaska gets that dollar amount, the National Marine Fisheries Service and the governor’s office will decide how to distribute those funds.
Gilman said he expects Alaska to receive between $20 million and $35 million, and he expects to hear the amount next week.
The 2016 pink season is one of 11 fisheries disasters to receive about $200 million in federal funds. The others are in California and Washington State.
