Federal Fishery Disasters

The Secretary of Commerce has approved several requests from the State of Alaska for federal fishery disaster determinations in recent years. If Congress appropriates funds for disaster assistance, NOAA Fisheries determines how much funding is allocated to each approved fishery disaster. The State supports an open and transparent process for distributing disaster relief funds and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) works with affected stakeholders and NOAA Fisheries to identify funding priorities and develop spend plans for each fishery disaster.

Guiding principles for fishery disaster spend plans:

Fishery disaster funds are intended to assist fishery participants harmed by the fishery disaster, to improve fishery information used to assess and forecast future fishery performance, and to develop management approaches that mitigate the impacts of future fishery disasters that cannot be prevented.

More information about the fishery disaster process can be found in the "Helpful Links" section at the bottom of this page. For more information about recent Alaska fishery disasters, including spend plan development, see the specific fishery disaster by species and area below. For questions, comments, or to be added to our contact list for a specific fishery disaster, please e-mail: dfg.com.fisheriesdisasters@alaska.gov or call Darion Jones: (907) 267-2593

Fishery Disaster Administration | Fisheries Relief (relief.psmfc.org): Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission (PSMFC) administers the federal fishery disaster relief grants and works collaboratively with NOAA Fisheries to distribute fishery disaster funds. Applications for available fishery disaster funds and updates on relief disbursement can be found on the PSMFC Fishery Disaster Programs webpage.

Bering Sea Crab Disaster Funds: Request for Research Proposals Application Period OPEN (PDF 164 kB)
(Submission Deadline: 1/21/2025 4pm AKST)

Fishery Disasters by Species and Area:

Salmon

Norton Sound, Yukon, and Kuskokwim

2022 Kuskokwim Management Area Chinook, chum and coho salmon fisheries: $331,588
2022 Yukon River salmon fisheries: $1,594,841
2021 Kuskokwim River and Norton Sound salmon fisheries: $1,268,317
2020 Norton Sound, Yukon River, Kuskokwim River, Chignik, and Southeast Alaska salmon fisheries, and 2021 Yukon River salmon fishery (Statewide Salmon): $55,928,849

Chignik

2022 Chignik salmon fishery: funds not yet appropriated
2021 Chignik salmon fishery: $4,989,902
2020 Chignik salmon fishery (included in Statewide Salmon)
2018 Chignik sockeye salmon fishery: $10,327,039

Crab

Bering Sea

2023/24 Bering Sea snow crab fishery: $39,500,000
2022/2023 Bristol Bay red king crab and Bering Sea snow crab fisheries: $96,621,465 and 2021/2022 Bristol Bay red king crab and Bering Sea snow crab fisheries: $94,489,726
2019/2020 Bering Sea Tanner crab fishery: $12,935,199

Norton Sound

2020 and 2021 Norton Sound red king crab fishery: $2,804,214
2019 Norton Sound red king crab fishery: $1,433,137

Pacific cod

2020 Gulf of Alaska Pacific cod fishery: $17,772,540
2018 Gulf of Alaska Pacific cod fishery: $24,416,440

Helpful Links

Flow chart of the federal fishery disaster process (PDF 669 kB)

Fishery Disaster Determinations | NOAA Fisheries: external site link NOAA Fisheries webpage shows a list and summary of pending and approved fishery disasters determinations.

Fishery Disaster Assistance | NOAA Fisheries: external site link NOAA Fisheries webpage provides an overview of fishery disaster assistance with links to the Fishery Disaster Improvement Act, NOAA's policy on Disaster Assistance, and frequently asked questions.

Alaska Department of Fish and Game