9 March 2012 – Legislation to restore import duties on seafood to fisheries research — money that, over the years has been diverted into NOAA operations — has been filed by U.S. Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Olympia Snowe of Maine.
Companion legislation to the Senate bill filed Thursday is to be filed on March 19 when the House returns to session, according to the office of Congressman Barney Frank whose district includes New Bedford. Congressman John Tierney, whose district includes Cape Ann, is a co-sponsor.
The intent, as expressed Thursday by Kerry, is to realign the 1954 Saltonstall-Kennedy Act to its original purpose.
In 2010, duties on imports were $376.6 million, yielding $113 million that the Saltonstall-Kennedy Act ostensibly meant for fisheries R&D. Instead, Congress appropriated $104.6 million for NOAA operations, leaving only $8.4 million for actual fisheries' uses.
The Kerry-Snowe Fisheries Investment and Regulatory Relief Act would require that at least 70 percent of the set-aside money be used for the original purpose — developing the domestic fisheries, which are recognized as among the best managed and most productive.
Read the complete story from The Gloucester Times.