NATION IN BRIEF : NORTHWEST : Fishing Disaster, Aid Plan Declared

The Clinton Administration declared a federal fishing disaster in the Pacific Northwest and announced a $15.7-million economic assistance plan to help the region’s coastal fishing communities. Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown said he declared the disaster because salmon stocks along the Pacific Coast have reached a record low. He estimated nearly 8,400 jobs have been affected by the recent crisis. Four Northwest salmon species are already protected under the Endangered Species Act and several others have been proposed for listing, largely because of a series of hydroelectric dams that impeded their migration up and down the Columbia and Snake rivers.