January 7, 2024 — Several U.S. senators want to be able to track fishery disaster determinations the same way consumers track packages throughout their shipping process.
The Republican lawmakers are demanding more transparency from NOAA Fisheries on how the agency makes determinations of fishery disasters – a designation that makes communities and industries eligible for federal financial relief.
December 28, 2023 — Senators Rick Scott (R-FL) and Marco Rubio sent a letter to the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric (NOAA) Janet Coit to call for the application of the Fishery Resource Disasters Improvement Act (FREDI).
According to Sen. Scott’s press release, the bill has the potential to “improve the fishery disaster assistance process at the NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service and restore confidence and faith in the fishery disaster assistance process by increasing transparency and user experience when applying for relief.”
Alongside Sen. Scott, Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), and Roger Wicker (R-MS) wrote that before FREDI was put in place, the logistics of the NOAA online system was subpar.