US: $ 170 million subsdies for commercial fishers of salmon in the West Coast

In the previous post I quoted the questions from the European Communities (or EU) at the latest WTO Review of the U.S. Trade Policy. In one of the question the EU asked about the $170 million in disaster assistance to help commercial fishers and businesses affected by the salmon closure in Oregon, California, Washington and Idaho.

According to several media the money should be soon with those qualifying for the subsidies. Though some politicians from the West Coast fear that the Bush Administration is trying to get hold of part of the funds ( $70 million) to use them for other purposes.

Here are links from the press on this issue:

http://www.currypilot.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=18299

http://news.opb.org/article/3085-relief-funds-available-northwest-fishing-communities/