The Secretary of Commerce determined that a commercial fishery failure due to a fishery resource disaster occurred in the 2020 Squaxin Island Tribe Puget Sound fall chum salmon fishery. The determination is in response to a request from Squaxin Island Tribe Chairman, Kristopher Peters.

Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, working with NOAA Fisheries, evaluates each fishery disaster request based primarily on data submitted by the requesting official. A fishery disaster determination must meet specific requirements under the Magnuson-Stevens Act. For example, there must be economic impacts and an unexpected large decrease in fish stock biomass or other change that results in significant loss of access to the fishery resource from specific allowable causes.

This positive determination makes this fishery eligible for disaster assistance from NOAA. Fishery participants may also qualify for disaster assistance from the Small Business Administration. The Department of Commerce has fishery disaster assistance funding available and in the near future will determine the appropriate allocation for this disaster.