July 9, 2019 — Our area’s Federal lawmakers in Washington DC are urging Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to help Louisiana’s fishermen.
U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) and John Kennedy (R-LA) and U.S. Representatives Steve Scalise (R-LA), Garret Graves (R-LA), Cedric Richmond (D-LA), Clay Higgins (R-LA), Ralph Abraham (R-LA) and Mike Johnson (R-LA) collectively urged Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to begin the process of implementing a federal fisheries disaster declaration in because of the opening of the Bonnet Carré Spillway earlier this summer.
By opening the spillway, hundreds of thousands of cubic feet of fresh water are pouring into Lake Pontchartrain every second, which is impacting aquatic life that are vital to our state’s seafood industry.
If the commerce secretary makes a determination to declare a fishery disaster, based on a NOAA Fisheries evaluation, Congress will then be allowed to appropriate funds for fishery disaster relief.
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards and Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser have also contacted Secretary Ross with the same request in recent weeks.