Fishermen on the bubble.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Oregon's salmon industry is in such dire straits that the state Fish and Wildlife Commission's decision to open a series of "bubble fisheries" at 10 river mouths will make little difference to the fishermen, seafood processors and associated businesses that are facing cataclysmic losses this fishing season.

Until the Bush administration declares an economic disaster for the West Coast salmon fishing industry, thousands of salmon fishermen and owners of related businesses face economic ruin as a result of federal regulators' decision to slash this year's chinook salmon season.

Still, state regulators made the right move in opening the bubble fisheries, which will allow trollers to haul in salmon caught within state-owned waters up to three miles from shore. The federally managed waters that lie beyond will remain all but closed to fishing in order to protect dwindling returns to the Klamath River.

Fishermen had asked the commission to open all state waters the length of the coast, arguing that the state-owned waters would normally have been open to trollers if the federal government hadn't limited access to federal waters. But state officials acted prudently in opening only the areas at river mouths. A broader opening would have risked further damage to struggling Klamath salmon and to the already-uncertain prospects for their long-term recovery.

The commission's action will make available an additional 12,000 chinook salmon to fishermen. As Register-Guard coastal reporter Winston Ross recently noted, that's a fraction of the hundreds of thousands of fish that trollers normally would catch in an open season. While hardly a lifeline, it's the latest in a series of state stopgap measures intended to help fishermen survive until the Bush administration finally acknowledges that the West Coast fishing industry is facing an economic disaster.

The administration, which helped cause the Klamath salmon's problems by diverting too much water to the basin's farmers during drought years, has finally begun creeping toward approving the full-blown federal bailout that should have been in place months ago. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez recently made fishermen eligible for Small Business Administration loans, while considering whether to issue the formal disaster declaration that would make it possible for Congress to appropriate the full $85 million in direct grants and other aid sought by the governors of Oregon and California and members of Congress from both states.

While emergency assistance to keep fishermen from losing their boats and livelihoods should be a top priority, the White House and Congress must not neglect the bigger challenge of restoring the Klamath River to health.

Three years ago, the National Academy of Sciences issued its recommendations for fixing a river that has become the sickest on the West Coast after decades of damming, diversion and degradation. If the academy's proposals for restoring wetlands, reforming agricultural and timber practices and removing dams had been acted on at the time, the restrictions on this year's salmon season might have been unnecessary.

With prompt federal aid and long-term assistance for the ailing Klamath, both the fishing industry and the salmon it relies on can recover and thrive. Without that help, their very survival is in doubt.