Meeting
Set To Plan Fisheries Restoration Funding Use
Posted:7/24/06
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.
