US Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo has announced the allocation of more than $42 million to address fishery disasters that occurred in Alaska, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oregon and the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe and Yurok Tribe fisheries between 2017 and 2022.
‘Sustainable fisheries are essential to the health of our communities and support the nation’s economic well-being,’ Secretary Raimondo said.
‘With these allocations, it is our hope that these funds help the affected communities and tribes recover from these disasters.’
Funding applies to a number of fishery disasters in US waters, although more than half of the overall amount allocated goes to the Louisiana saltwater finfish, oyster and shrimp fisheries for the years 2020 and 2021/22. The Oregon chinook salmon fisheries for the years 2018, 2019 and 2020 are the next largest recipient.
According to NOAA Fisheries, commercial revenue loss information was used to allocate funding across the eligible disasters. The agency also considered traditional uses of the fisheries resources that cannot be accounted for in commercial revenue loss alone, such as cultural and subsistence uses.
‘The impacts of fishery disasters are a great concern for the communities that depend on these fisheries to support the lives and livelihoods of their local economies,’ said Janet Coit, Assistant Administrator for NOAA Fisheries.
‘With climate change further stressing our fisheries and ecosystems, it is essential that we work together to mitigate the impacts of disasters, restore fisheries and help prevent future disasters.’
Congress provided fishery disaster assistance funding in the 2022 and 2023 Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Acts. Positive determinations make these fisheries eligible to receive a funding allocation from those appropriations. These funds will help improve the impacted fisheries’ long-term economic and environmental sustainability. Funds can assist the affected fishing communities including commercial fishermen, recreational fishermen, charter businesses, shore-side infrastructure and subsistence users.
Activities that can be considered for funding include fishery-related infrastructure projects, habitat restoration, state-run vessel and fishing permit buybacks, job retraining and more. Some fishery-related businesses impacted by the fishery disasters may also be eligible for assistance from the Small Business Administration.
