Fishermen and Conservationists Welcome Targeted Fisheries Investments in NOAA’s FY2013 Budget Request
OutdoorHub 02.16.12
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released details of the administration’s FY13 budget request today during a stakeholder briefing at the Department of Commerce. The presentation included specific funding requests for NOAA and its sub-agencies such as the National Marine Fisheries Service.
Following the briefing, Matt Tinning, Executive Director of the Marine Fish Conservation Network, offered the following statement:
“Just as roads and bridges provide infrastructure that generates economic activity on land, so too does spending on the infrastructure of fisheries information serve as a foundation for our nation’s commercial and recreational fishing industries. This is a critical time in fisheries management, and even in a tough fiscal environment, targeted and sustained federal investments are imperative if we are to support a prosperous fishing future in the United States.
“Although we continue to await public release of the full FY13 NOAA budget request, today’s briefing by Dr. Lubchenco provided stakeholders with important new details on what it contains.
“Today’s presentation made clear that the administration has listened to the message that fishermen and conservationists have been delivering for years: targeted funding for key fisheries priorities must receive greater support. Fishermen everywhere will applaud the requested 11.8% increase in funding for the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO), which houses NOAA’s fleet and supports core scientific and monitoring activities. The Marine Fish Conservation Network and our members pushed hard for this new investment because a strong OMAO is essential in understanding the health of US fisheries and supports the activities that allow us to set science-based Annual Catch Limits on our nation’s fish stocks.
“We also welcome the administration’s recognition of key priority areas within the NOAA Fisheries budget. Additional funding will go to fisheries science, surveys, stock assessments and monitoring. These are the areas fishermen and conservationists have urged the administration to prioritize, and their voices have been heard. Great strides have been made to combat our nation’s overfishing crisis, and these additional funds will continue to support this emerging bipartisan success.
“Cuts foreshadowed to other parts of the NOAA Fisheries budget, however, are a cause for concern, and we will look closely at the details of those cuts when the full request is released.
“In the broader context of a squeeze on federal discretionary spending, NOAA is dealing with the additional burden of finding significant new cost savings to continue its satellite program. Dr. Lubchenco could not have made clearer today that this reality is imposing “serious constraints” on all other NOAA budget centers.
The ocean programs that are being squeezed support coastal economies, fishing jobs and ocean health. For NOAA to be forced to reallocate funds from core ocean and science programs to avoid crippling gaps in our nation’s satellite capacity is unsustainable, and we urge Congress and the White House to urgently seek a new approach to satellite funding.
“We look now to Congress to ensure that the value Americans place on healthy, sustainable fisheries is reflected in the final FY13 appropriations. The investments we make in America’s fisheries now will pay dividends in the future—in the form of healthy sustainable food for Americans, high quality jobs throughout the recreational fishing and seafood economies, and more prosperous coastal communities around the nation.”
The ‘Blue Book’, containing full details of the administration’s NOAA budget request, is expected to be available online tomorrow.
