Fisheries are on the receiving end of federal dollars, instead of the other way around. As congressional lawmakers slash budgets in D.C., money for all-important fishery stock assessments was actually increased from $51 million to $67 million for the next fiscal year, the amount requested by President Barack Obama.
The money was included as part of a Commerce, Justice and Science subcommittee appropriations bill that passed in a bipartisan vote late last week. Despite the fisheries increase, the bill is $600 million below the amount in fiscal year 2011 and $5 billion below the president's request, said Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a CJS subcommittee member.
"The overall appropriations account is dramatically reduced, so the fact that we were able to increase our fisheries dollars is really quite significant. I was very pleased," Murkowski said in a phone interview from her Senate office.
One big NOAA budget item that was zeroed out drew sighs of relief from Alaska's two senators — ocean zoning, or "marine spatial planning." The plan, which would affect all users and uses on and beneath the oceans, was a priority in the president's national ocean policy, with a price tag of $60 million.
Read the complete story from The Anchorage Daily News