Northeast Seafood Coalition issued the following statement on sovernment funding of monitoring:
The Northeast Seafood Coalition is pleased to learn that NOAA will continue to fund the cost of at-sea monitoring for New England groundfish through April 30, 2013, the end of the 2012 fishing year. NSC has spent much of our time educating members of Congress, the Agency and the New England Fishery Management Council on the looming crisis pending – if fishermen were required to pay such costs starting on May 1, 2012. We appreciate all the attention provided by members of Congress on this matter, most notably Senator Kerry, Snowe and Collins for their work in the FY 2012 Senate Appropriations Bill. NSC looks forward to working with members of Congress, the Agency and the New England Fishery Management Council on improving the effectiveness and efficiency of sectors and mitigating the adverse impacts on fishermen caused by various elements of the sector management system.