Budget bill includes fisheries, cleanup money

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - A congressional omnibus spending bill includes $75 million for fisheries disasters.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s office says that includes the 2012 disaster declared for Alaska Chinook salmon fisheries in the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers and Cook Inlet.

More than three dozen members of Congress, including Alaska’s delegation, had sought $150 million for fisheries disasters that have been declared since 2012. Murkowski spokesman Matthew Felling says the amount was set at $75 million during congressional negotiations, and it would be up to the U.S. Department of Commerce to distribute aid to affected regions.

Murkowski’s office says the bill also includes $1 million specifically for cleanup of debris from the 2011 tsunami in Japan. It also requires a report on how federal agencies are coordinating to remove marine debris on federal land.