Fisheries
Officials to Meet Aug. 30 to Begin Planning Use of Resource
Restoration Funding
Posted:
8/24/06
Louisiana's
fisheries resources, impacted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita,
will benefit from fisheries restoration funding in the 2006
Federal Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act. The $53
million in NOAA Fisheries funding earmarked for Louisiana,
to be distributed through the Gulf States Marine Fisheries
Commission (GSMFC), is part of the $128 million in assistance
being directed to the northern Gulf of Mexico.
Representatives
of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF),
the Louisiana Fishing Community Recovery Coalition, the Louisiana
Recovery Authority and the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and
Marketing Board, the LSU AgCenter and the Louisiana Sea Grant
College Program will meet on Wednesday, Aug. 30 at 1 p.m.
at LDWF headquarters in Baton Rouge. The group will assemble
in the Louisiana Room on the first floor of LDWF's main office
at 2000 Quail Drive.
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 GSMFC to Alabama, Florida,
Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Each state developed proposals
for funding utilization within its jurisdiction and GSMFC
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 Office of the Governor, LDWF,
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.
EDITORS:
For more information, contact Martin Bourgeois at 225-765-2383
or mbourgeois@wlf.louisiana.gov.
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