A bipartisan coalition of eight Northeast U.S. senators Thursday appealed to President Barack Obama for a package of economic relief for the New England fishing industry, which is struggling under the weight of newly imposed regulations and restrictions.
The senators are asking the president to support a voluntary $100 million buyback program for groundfishing permits and $50 million in direct economic aid to the fishing industry and communities.
They also asked Obama to include $47 million in his fiscal 2012 budget for data collection and monitoring programs that provide the underpinning of fisheries regulations in the U.S.
The letter to the president was co-signed by U.S. Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass; Olympia Snowe , R-Maine; Susan Collins, R-Maine; Jack Reed, D-R.I.; Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.; Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.; Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.; and Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.
U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., did not sign.
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