Statement by Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director, FWW
Washington, DC – “In a sign of rising solidarity against the controversial fisheries management system known as catch shares, the U.S. House voted for the first time to cut funding for the program on Saturday.”
“We commend Representatives Walter Jones (R-NC), Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Barney Frank (D-Mass) for introducing this commonsense budget amendment (Amendment No. 548 to H.R. 1) to curb wasteful spending and preserve the jobs of hard-working fishermen across the country.”
“Despite a call for fiscal discipline, the president’s recently announced budget proposal inexplicably allocated over $54 million to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to ramp up a practice which has already put thousands of fishermen out of business.”
“If the Senate is serious about cutting the budget and helping American families, they too will promptly pass this much-needed amendment to preserve our coastal communities and prevent further job loss.”
“It is unfortunate that the administration would even consider giving millions more to NOAA, an agency that stands accused of purposefully re-engineering the fishing industry in favor of larger, industrialized operations.”
Read the statement from North Central PA.