WASHINGTON – June 4, 2015 — With an August deadline looming, U.S. Rep. William Keating, D-Bourne, said Thursday that he is more hopeful Congress will find a way to have the federal government continue to pay for monitors on commercial fishing vessels.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has paid for the onboard monitors since 1972 but a recent court decision has put the funds in jeopardy. The current plan is for the fishing industry to pay the cost of the monitors, who ensure the daily haul is legal.
Keating said he has enlisted the help of Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas, and Rep. Chaka Fattah, D-Pa., to find a way to avoid the cost shift, which would be particularly onerous to the Northeast’s struggling groundfish industry. The two lawmakers are the majority and minority leaders of the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees NOAA funding.
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