By
ecoRI.org News staff
The
U.S. Department of Commerce has declared a disaster in the Northeast
groundfishing industry for the 2013 fishing year as fish stocks fail to
rebuild, a move that opens the door for Congress to appropriate relief funding
of up to $100 million for the industry.
Last
month, Rhode Island joined other Northeast states in asking the federal government
to approve the declaration, which could make Ocean State fishermen eligible for
additional loan programs.
The Rhode Island Congressional delegation wrote to
Acting Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank in support of the request made by
Gov. Lincoln Chafee. The governors of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New
Hampshire and New York also requested the declaration.
“Today’s
announcement by the Department of Commerce is an important step forward in our
ongoing efforts to support Rhode Island’s fishing industry,” Senators Jack Reed
and Sheldon Whitehouse and Representatives Jim Langevin and David Cicilline
wrote in a press release. “We recognize the importance of the industry and the
challenges facing it right now.”
On
Monday, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) officials John
Bullard, the new Northeast Regional Administrator for NOAA Fisheries, and Bill
Karp, the new Northeast Fisheries Science Center Director, joined Reed and
Whitehouse and staffers from the offices of Langevin and Cicilline to hear
firsthand from Rhode Island fishermen on a number of issues, including the
state of the groundfishery.
The meeting was attended by dozens of fishermen who
asked questions and provided comments on how the agency can better interact
with and support the industry.
A
2011 Cornell University study estimated that commercial fishing and related
industries account for about 6,500 jobs in Rhode Island.
