SEAFOOD.COM NEWS by John Sackton — September 30, 2013 — Given a possible government shutdown due to lapse in funding tonight, we asked NOAA fisheries how they are planning to respond to a shut down.
474 employees of NOAA fisheries would continue to work. First, all seafood inspection services are paid for through multi-year appropriations, and will not be affected.
Also not affected are law enforcement, and the NOAA observer program that is responsible for monitoring compliance with fishery management decisions.
It appears also that the Fishery Management Councils, which directly conduct regulatory actions to prevent overfishing, are also exempt.
Further, ongoing science projects — such as voyages etc., whose data integrity would be lost if shut down will also continue.
"Fisheries management activities including quota monitoring, observer activities, and regulatory actions to prevent overfishing" are to be considered exempt, says NOAA.
Services that would not be available will include non-essential research, grant monitoring and oversight, technical contract administration, and most economic data services.
Obviously ths situation if fluid, and these plans were developed as a draft document only.
This story originally appeared on Seafood.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.