January 21, 2019 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) this month brought federal inspectors back from furlough to certify cod and pollock fishing boats in the Bering Sea off the coast of Alaska, but has yet to bring back personnel necessary to free up boats for harvesting in New England, the Washington Post reports.
As the US federal government’s shutdown rolls into its record-setting fourth week, some constituencies have managed to obtain relief, while others remain shut out, according to the newspaper.
Count Alaska’s congressional delegation among those with apparently enough influence or luck.
As an Alaska radio station reported late last month how NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) wasn’t able to do the required inspections of scales for weighing fish on boats or monitoring equipment. Without the inspections, harvesters in their state would not have been able to catch cod starting on Jan. 1 or pollock beginning on Jan. 20.