Saving Seafood

Florida Rep. Announces FISHES Act Legislation Aimed at Expediting Fisheries Disaster Relief

September 19, 2024 — Congressman Byron Donalds (R-FL) announced that a broad coalition of members of the U.S. House of Representatives, Senate, and organizations supports the FISHES Act, which aims to expedite fisheries disaster relief.

Donalds’ FISHES Act was described as bipartisan legislation aimed at improving the federal regulatory process association with fishery disaster relief allocation. The bill wants to expedite fisheries disaster relief once declarations are confirmed, something that Donalds has become familiar with as Florida has requested relief on six separate occasions since 2012.

“Following Hurricane Ian, Southwest Florida’s seafood industry incurred catastrophic devastation and its impact still persists,” said Donalds. “Waterways are the lifeblood of our economy and our community. It has always been my commitment to advocate for the vitality of water—which ultimately benefits countless families, businesses, and the overall development of Florida’s 19th Congressional District. I am proud to have introduced the bipartisan FISHES Act in the U.S. House of Representatives, and I thank Senator Scott for introducing this critical piece of legislation in the U.S. Senate.”

Read the full article at Seafoodnews.com

Florida’s Senators, Congressmen Urge Commerce Department to Help Fisheries Hurt by Red Tide

June 4, 2021 — On Wednesday, members of the Florida delegation sent a letter to U.S. Commerce Sec. Gina Raimondo urging that the Department approve Florida’s request for disaster assistance for fisheries that were harmed by severe red tide events that occurred between 2015 and 2019.

Florida’s two U.S. senators–Marco Rubio and Rick Scott–and Republican U.S. Reps. Vern Buchanan, Byron Donalds, Carlos Gimenez and Greg Steube signed the letter.

The full text of the letter is below.

Dear Secretary Raimondo:

We write to bring your attention to a pending request by the State of Florida for the declaration of a federal fishery resource disaster in response to severe red tide events that occurred between 2015 and 2019.  We respectfully urge you to expeditiously consider the State of Florida’s request, and approve the disbursal of disaster assistance to fishing and seafood businesses that were harmed by the impacts to sea life that were caused by red tide.

On May 24, 2019, the State of Florida submitted a request to the U.S. Department of Commerce to declare a federal fishery resource disaster pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation Act, 16 U.S.C. § 1861a, and the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act, 16 U.S.C. § 4107, in response to the severe red tide events that occurred in the state between 2015 and 2019.  As noted in the initial request, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission estimates that 1,300 licensed charter fishermen, 1,700 commercial fishermen, and 273 wholesalers were economically harmed by the impacts of the severe red tide blooms.

Read the full story at Florida Daily