whitehouse1aOn February 14, the Obama Administration released its Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 budget request, which includes a total of $1 billion for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) – higher than the President’s FY11 budget request and only slightly less than the FY10 enacted NMFS budget. The President's budget actually proposes increases in funding for key programs areas that support the implementation of annual catch limits (ACLs) aimed at ending overfishing.
Proposed increases to the Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) would also support expanded efforts to improve the precision, timeliness and geographical resolution of recreational fisheries data. Other key fisheries programs that support data collection and fishery monitoring would receive slight increases or maintain level funding under the President’s budget.
The Administration’s proposed $15 million increase for Expanding Annual Stock Assessments (EASA) and $3 million increase under Fisheries Statistics for recreational fisheries monitoring (MRIP) reflect the Administration’s ongoing commitment to expand data collection and other activities that support the implementation of ACLs.
Read the complete story from The Marine Fish Conservation Network.