NEWSROOM
Meeting
Set To Plan Fisheries Restoration Funding Use
August
24, 2006
Louisiana’s fisheries
resources affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita will benefit
from fisheries restoration funding in the 2006 Federal Emergency
Supplemental Appropriations Act, according to state officials.
The $53 million in
NOAA Fisheries funding earmarked for Louisiana, which is to be
distributed through the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission,
is part of $128 million in assistance being directed to the northern
Gulf of Mexico.
Representatives of
the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the Louisiana
Fishing Community Recovery Coalition, the Louisiana Recovery Authority,
the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board, the LSU AgCenter
and the Louisiana Sea Grant College Program will meet at 1 p.m.
Aug. 30 at the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries headquarters
at 2000 Quail Drive in Baton Rouge to plan how the funds will
be used.
Congress appropriated
the funding to NOAA Fisheries for reseeding, rehabilitation and
restoration of oyster reefs; rehabilitating oyster beds and shrimp
grounds; and cooperative research to monitor the recovery of Gulf
fisheries. NOAA Fisheries arranged for funding distribution through
the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission to Alabama, Florida,
Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
Each state developed
proposals for funding use within its jurisdiction, and the Fisheries
Commission submitted a regional cooperative agreement request
to NOAA Fisheries in July. Once approved, the Louisiana Department
of Wildlife and Fisheries will be responsible for fund distribution
and accountability for Louisiana.
The effort to bring
the state’s fisheries issues to Washington was a unified
approach involving the Louisiana Office of the Governor, the state
Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the Louisiana Fishing Community
Recovery Coalition, the Louisiana Recovery Authority, the Louisiana
Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board, the LSU AgCenter, the Louisiana
Sea Grant College Program and the state’s congressional
delegation.
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