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CORVALLIS - An Oregon Sea Grant video about the plight of Pacific Northwest wild salmon stocks has won a prestigious award from the nation's largest organization of outdoor writers.

The half-hour documentary, "Return of the Salmon," placed second in the Conservation-Environment category of the 1996 North American Film-Video Awards sponsored by the Outdoor Writers Association of America, Inc.

The video, which chronicles the salmon's decline and community efforts to restore the watersheds where the fish spawn, was produced last year by Joe Cone, Oregon Sea Grant communications director and author of a 1995 book on the subject, "A Common Fate: Endangered Salmon and the People of the Pacific Northwest."

Already aired on Oregon Public Broadcasting stations and on the Ecology Channel, the video will be made available via satellite to public broadcasting stations nationwide on Sunday, May 5, via the Pacific Mountain Network. Check local television listings for broadcast dates and times.

Oregon Sea Grant, based at Oregon State University, is part of a nationwide network of university-based ocean and coastal research and education programs funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. -30- Note to editors: The video is available for purchase from Sea Grant for $30 by calling 1-800-375-9360. News media who would like to review the video may request a preview copy.