March 27, 2012 – In a rare instance of bipartisanship, U.S. Reps. Frank Guinta (R-N.H.) and Barney Frank (D-Mass.) have introduced a bill aimed at supporting the long-term future of the region’s fishing industry. Guinta and Frank are cosponsors of H.R. 4208, called “The Fisheries Investment and Regulatory Relief Act.”
According to Guinta, the bill is intended to address a problem that has prevented funding for New England’s fishing industry from getting to its intended target. Guinta says funding designed to support fisheries has instead been diverted into the operating budget of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The bill traces its roots back to the Saltonstall-Kennedy Act of 1954, which imposed a special duty on fish and fish products imported in the United States and required that 30 percent of the money go toward supporting fisheries, research and development on the industry’s long-term sustainability. But, of the $113 million collected for this purpose in 2010, more than $104 million went to NOAA’s operating fund.
“Instead of funding fisheries and other research and development projects to protect this historic industry, it was spent propping up NOAA’s bureaucratic administrative costs,” Guinta said in a press release.
Read the full article at the Wire.