The Secretary of Commerce has now officially declared the west coast salmon fishery a "disaster" and a "failure." These dire words have a legal meaning; their utterance opens the door for disaster relief money. Ever since fishery managers made the difficult but correct choice to close the Chinook fishery, we've been waiting for the federal declaration to come through and then the funds that can help allay some of the economic costs and, hopefully, fund research that will help us bring the populations back. Salmon are wild fish, even with our hatchery supplements, and wild things have cycles and fluctuations at the best of times. For years the Sacramento fish were the reliable run, with fish that sustained the boats when the Klamath, Columbia, and Fraser came up empty. It's a bitter year when your reliable source runs dry.