Tag Archives: Federal Disaster Declarations
Donalds introduces bill, The FISHES Act, to help fisheries recover faster from disasters like Hurricane Ian
Crabbers, shrimpers and net fishermen all took it on the chin after Hurricane Ian, with some completely out of business, and others struggling to rebuild storefronts, docks and boats. Painfully scarce: government aid dollars, despite a federal disaster declaration. Reviews, red tape and pending inspections make for a long, dragged-out process that takes years to work – if it does at all, says commercial fishing Captain Casey Streeter. The bipartisan legislation spearheaded by Naples Republican Congressman Byron Donalds would “improve the federal regulatory process associated with the allocation of fishery disaster relief (and) expedite the distribution of federal disaster relief following official fishery disasters.” This isn’t just a Florida problem. Nationwide, there are 27 such disaster declarations. “It could be salmon or cod … situations where fisheries are in trouble,” Streeter said, though he’s careful to add the legislation would be a hand-up – “just to get things stabilized – not a hand-out.” >click to read< 07:53
Commerce Determinations Clear the Way for Alaska Fisheries to Receive Relief Funds
U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, and Congressman Don Young, all R-Alaska, today welcomed determinations from the Department of Commerce that fishery disasters have occurred in numerous Alaska fisheries, allowing Alaska fishermen to receive critical relief funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The funding can be distributed to fishermen and their crews, seafood processors, and research initiatives in the impacted regions. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo today issued determinations that fisheries disasters occurred in fourteen different fisheries->click to read< 09:30
Finally, California Seeks Federal Disaster Declarations for Commercial Crab Fishing
In a letter to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. today requested federal declarations of a fishery disaster and a commercial fishery failure in response to the continued presence of unsafe levels of domoic acid, a potent neurotoxin, in Dungeness and rock crab fisheries across California and the corresponding closures of those fisheries. “Crabs are a vital component of California’s natural resources and provide significant aesthetic, recreational, commercial, cultural and economic benefits to our state,” Governor Brown said in the letter to Secretary Pritzker. “Economic assistance will be critical for the well-being of our fishing industry and our state.” Read the rest here 20:17
