April 28, 2013 — An amendment to the House budget for fiscal year 2014 directs $425,000 to fisheries research, state Rep. Antonio F.D. Cabral, D-New Bedford, announced.
The research will focus on finding techniques to yield more accurate fish counts, which have been a major point of contention between the fishing industry and federal regulators who set quotas.
Cabral filed the amendment, which still needs approval of the overall budget by the House and Senate. He called it the largest state commitment to fisheries research funding.
The earmark, if passed, would send the money to the School for Marine Science and Technology at the UMass Dartmouth in collaboration with the state Division of Marine Fisheries to assess the number of groundfish, including cod and yellowtail.
Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times