July 14, 2025 6:00 a.m.

Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley is leading the Oregon Democratic delegation – Senator Ron Wyden and Representatives Suzanne Bonamici, Val Hoyle, Andrea Salinas, Maxine Dexter and Janelle Bynun – in pressing the Trump Administration to release just over $7 million that was allocated to Oregon for the catastrophic regional fishery disaster that was declared for the Oregon Chinook salmon commercial ocean fisheries in the state for 2018, 2019, and 2020.

A joint release from the lawmakers said the Pacific States Fisheries Commission resubmitted their spending plan for funds allocated by the U.S. Department of Commerce in October 2024, but their final revised application has gone without a response from the Trump Administration for the last several months, delaying much funding for Oregon’s fisherman.

The Democratic delegation is urging Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought to promptly review and act upon the PSMFC’s application without further delay to help the state’s ocean commercial fishermen and coastal economies recover from the significant toll of declining salmon populations.

The lawmakers wrote, “Oregon salmon and salmon fisheries are an invaluable cultural, economic, and ecological resource in our state. Salmon are highly valued by Native American tribes in the Pacific Northwest for cultural, subsistence and economic benefits”.

The release said the impact Salmon loss has on Oregon’s economy cannot be understated, as the state’s commercial fishing industry generates more than $640 million in economic activity each year, equivalent to 9,200 jobs.