Saving Seafood

LOUISIANA: Rep. Garret Graves: Federal aid for Louisiana fisheries delivered after nearly four years

August 28, 2o23 — After a long wait, Louisiana’s fisheries finally will receive $58 million in federal aid to offset disaster impacts, U.S. Rep. Garret Graves announced.

The Baton Rouge area congressman worked to secure the federal assistance in 2020 after multiple disasters affected the state’s fisheries in 2019.

Graves said in a news release the federal government has taken nearly four years to deliver the funding after it was awarded.

“There is no excuse for the bureaucracy to take four years for the disaster relief we secured to actually be made available, but these funds will be invaluable,” he said in the announcement. “We have promised the seafood industry we would not stop our fight to bring them relief while working to reform the broken fisheries disaster process. We will continue to work with our fishing community to cut through the red tape and make this program functional.”

Read the full article at Gonzales Weekly Citizen

Huffman, Graves want Biden to make “strong statement” against IUU

June 6, 2022 — Two U.S. lawmakers pushing the federal government to take broader action against illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing are asking U.S. President Joe Biden to take action ahead of a key international conference.

U.S. Representatives Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) and Garret Graves (R-La.) sent the letter on 2 June 2022, saying the country has the opportunity to demonstrate leadership in the fight against IUU ahead of the United Nations Ocean Conference in Lisbon, Portugal, which starts on 27 June. The conference – as well as June being World Oceans Month – presents an opportunity for the U.S. to make a “strong statement,” they said in the three-page letter.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

Louisiana Receives $1.7 Billion in Unexpected Federal Hurricane Relief

March 24, 2022 — Four hurricanes and two tropical storms later, hard hit areas of Louisiana will be the recipient of an unexpected $1.7 billion in federal hurricane relief dollars. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Gov. John Bel Edwards, U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy and Rep. Garret Graves announced the new funding that provided a major infusion to the $600 million previously approved, raising to more than $1 billion the total amount of Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery money available for recovery from these storms.

“I’m grateful to the Biden-Harris administration for their commitment to helping our communities and those around the nation recover from the impacts of these devastating storms,” said Gov. Edwards in a press release.  “I contacted Sec. Fudge to personally thank her for this significant allocation that should provide Louisiana with an opportunity to implement a more effective, albeit late, recovery from Hurricanes Laura and Delta. In addition, Louisiana will receive $1.27 billion for recovery from Hurricane Ida and other 2021 disasters. However, the need is much greater, which everyone we have spoken with in Washington acknowledges. We will continue working to secure that additional funding.”

The funds are part of a $5 billion supplemental disaster appropriation Congress enacted in September of last year for all disasters countrywide in 2020-21.  Approximately $450 million will go to Louisiana’s southwest region to cover unmet needs stemming from Hurricanes Laura and Delta, which struck in 2020. The remaining allocated for communities hit by Hurricane Ida last year. Additionally Baton Rouge would receive $4.6 million and $10.8 million to Lake Charles.

Read the full story at Gulf Seafood News

 

Huffman, Graves get AIS provision included in Coast Guard bill

March 4, 2022 — Two U.S. representatives who have worked across the aisle to combat illegal fishing practices succeeded on Wednesday, 2 March, in amending a Coast Guard funding bill to include a requirement for more fishing vessels to install tracking systems.

U.S. Reps. Jared Huffman (D-California) and Garret Graves (R-Louisiana) say requiring boats that are at least 65 feet in length to have automatic identification systems (AIS) technology on board. A grant program that includes USD 5 million (EUR 4.5 million) would be made available to help boat owners purchase the equipment.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

Rep. Graves Asks Commerce For Expedited Fishery Disaster Determination

February 7, 2022 — A recently released report detailing infrastructure, revenue and resource loss to Louisiana Fisheries have prompted a Louisiana Congressmen to ask the Department of Commerce (DOC) to expedite a Fishery Disaster Determination due to major damage related to impacts of Hurricanes Laura, Delta, Zeta and especially Ida.

Congressman Garret Graves request to to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo comes after a recent economic assessment verified the devastating impact to the state’s fishing communities.

The recently released report by Louisiana Sea Grant and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries documents extreme damage and loss of revenue over all five sectors of the industry; commercial fishermen, recreational fishing, docks, processors and marinas.

The report and supporting analysis not only confirmed the importance of the state’s fishing industry but also the massive impact of the storms. It demonstrated more than 8,500 businesses were impacted, resulting in $305 million in damage to fisheries infrastructures such as marinas, docks, seafood processors, and dealers. Combined with an additional $118 million in resource loss and $155 million revenue loss, the total estimated impact is estimated at $579 million.

Read the full story at Gulf Seafood News

US House passes COMPETES Act with SIMP expansion, Graves does not vote

February 4, 2022 — The U.S. House of Representatives passed the American COMPETES Act on Friday, 4 February on a near party-line vote.

The USD 350 billion (EUR 305.6 billion) spending bill tackles supply chain and trade issues included several fishing provisions from other bills – including the expansion of the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) to cover all species that enter American ports.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

WASHINGTON: Graves Pushes Biden Administration to Get Disaster Aid to Fishermen

February 2, 2022 — The following was released by The Office of Congressman Garret Graves:

U.S. Congressman Garret Graves is pushing U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) Secretary Gina Raimondo to expedite “Fishery Disaster Determination” due to major damage related to impacts of Hurricanes Laura, Delta, Zeta, and especially Ida. Graves’ ask comes after a recent economic assessment verifies what we have been saying about the impact to our fishing communities. He is also working to reform the disaster designation process for the fishing community.

Immediately after Hurricane Ida, we worked to secure $200 million in federal funding for fisheries disaster assistance, but this down payment can’t be made available for rebuilding our resources until a fisheries disaster has been determined. Under law, only the U.S. Secretary of Commerce can make this determination.

“The recovery doesn’t just happen overnight and for every additional day that the bureaucratic process drags on, our fishers and associated small businesses can’t get back on their feet to rebuild their livelihood. Our fishermen have taken a pounding over the last several years. Hurricanes, floods, unfair trade practices, inflation, worker shortages and government over-regulation have taken their toll – all of which have been a major blow to our workforce and consumer demand. This report verifies what we have been saying about the hurricane impacts and clearly justifies the fisheries assistance we’ve already funded. We need to get assistance to our fishing communities and it has to happen in a timeframe that will actually provide immediate assistance,” Graves said.

DOC is able to declare the disaster provided by the provisions within the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act. The declared disaster would provide targeted relief to one of the most impacted sectors of Louisiana’s economy. The funds would help both commercial and recreational fishers begin to recover.

Click here to read the letter.

 

Amended IUU fishing bill approved by House committee would expand SIMP

October 18, 2021 — A U.S. congressional committee has passed an amended bill that seeks to prevent more seafood produced through illegal practices from entering the country – in part by expanding the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP).

The U.S. House Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday, 13 October, voted to advance the Illegal Fishing and Forced Labor Prevention Act, legislation sponsored by U.S. Reps. Jared Huffman (D-California) and Garret Graves (R-Louisiana).

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

 

Congressman: Louisiana needs fishery disaster determination after Ida

September 14, 2021 — U.S. Congressman Garret Graves (R-Louisiana) is calling on the federal government to declare his state a “fishery disaster” area, following the destruction caused by Hurricane Ida.

Graves is calling for the U.S. Department of Commerce to immediately make a “Fishery disaster determination” due to “both the biological resources and fishery infrastructure sustaining major damage related to Hurricane Ida,” Graves said in a news release.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

US spending bills include millions for seafood-related initiatives

July 30, 2021 — Washington, D.C., U.S.A was a busy place Thursday, 29 July, as lawmakers in both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate passed large appropriation bills, both of which included seafood-related line-items and initiatives.

In the House, a package of seven spending bills passed by a 219-208 vote. The appropriations package included funding for such agencies as the Department of Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency, Food and Drug Administration and Department of Interior. Among the projects in the bill is a USD 6 million (EUR 5.1 million) initiative secured by Louisiana U.S. Reps. Garret Graves (R), Steve Scalise (R), and Troy Carter (D) that would redirect dredged sediment to coastal restoration projects in the state instead of having it dumped in the Gulf of Mexico.

Read the full story at Seafood Source