SEATTLE — The salmon season may be a disaster but state and federal lawmakers already are pledging help.

On Thursday, before the Pacific Fishery Management Council decided to formally close sport and commercial Chinook fishing in the ocean, Gov. Ted Kulongoski declared a state of emergency for coastal communities. Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire followed suit on Friday.

At the same time, Kulongoski said in a press release he’s making $500,000 available for immediate assistance to those ports and towns until federal assistance is available. He also issued an executive order directing state agencies to take immediate action to help mitigate the impact. Some of those actions include job retraining, unemployment benefits and re-employment opportunities. The order also directs the Office of Emergency Management to seek all federal funds that are available to help mitigate the situation.

“This will be devastating to the communities and families on the coast that rely on salmon fishing for their livelihood,” Kulongoski said in the press release. “Our job now is to help these communities make ends meet during this difficult time and to fight for federal assistance to help them for the longer term.”

All state agencies are directed to provide appropriate state resources and to seek any available private and federal dollars to provide emergency assistance to affected individuals, families, businesses and communities. All agencies under the executive order will report back to the governor within 60 days to provide an update on progress and every 60 days thereafter until the emergency is over.

The situation is similar to 2006, when a disaster was declared in light of restrictions due to low returns to the Klamath River. This year, the river is different — there are low returns to the Sacramento — but the disaster is two to three times worse. The closure is for most all of Oregon, except for the extreme North Coast, and all of California, for both sport and commercial Chinook seasons. The council approved only a limited sport coho season for Oregon.

In Seattle, sport and commercial fishermen urged lawmakers’ aides to help when those staff members visited the council’s Salmon Advisory Subpanel on Wednesday. Any chance of federal funding hinges on the U.S. Secretary of Commerce making a fisheries failure declaration and Congress appropriating funds — all within the next couple of months.

Still, Kulongoski’s efforts are appreciated, fishermen said.

“We understand that budgets are tight,” fisherman Jeff Reeves said Friday from Charleston. “It will remain to be seen how much $500,000 will do for coastal communities, especially in light of the recreational fisheries being affected. I appreciate that the governor has our best interests at heart in this matter.”

Gregoire said in her statement she’s pushing hard for federal assistance and that it’s important the U.S. Secretary of Commerce treat the situation as a multistate crisis. The ban in Oregon and California could lead to some Oregon-based fishermen moving into Washington waters, she said.

At the state level, Rep. Arnie Roblan, D-Coos Bay, said coastal legislators are working with the governor’s office to make help available.

On Friday, U.S. Sens. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., wrote a joint letter to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez, asking for an immediate fishery failure declaration under section 312(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

Also on Friday, Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., said he is pressing for federal aid.

“This is a bigger disaster than the salmon failure in 2006,” DeFazio said in a press release, noting that this is the first ban on salmon fishing since the industry began.

“We learned from the 2006 disaster that we must lay the groundwork for federal disaster aid if we are to receive the money in a timely fashion,” he said. “We intend to push the administration to respond more quickly and adequately this time around.  Short-term assistance is critical so that folks can make boat payments, insurance payments, mortgage payments and keep food on the table.”