Press Release

BUCHANAN HAILS HOUSE APPROVAL OF IMPROVEMENTS TO FEDERAL RED TIDE RESEARCH

Washington, DC -- Congressman Vern Buchanan (R-FL 13) today hailed House approval of critical funding for red tide research.  The fiscal year 2008 “Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) Appropriations Act” (H.R. 3093) includes language from the “Save Our Shores Act” (H.R. 1091) introduced by Buchanan with U.S. Reps. Connie Mack (R-FL 14) and Kathy Castor (D-FL 11) to authorize additional a additional $30 million in each of the next three years for red tide research. 

Despite Buchanan, Mack, and Castor’s successful and important effort to increase the authorization for red tide research to $30 million, the CJS appropriations bill contains only $8.9 million in actual research dollars – far less than what is actually needed to sufficiently address the scourge of red tide.

“In recent years, extended and severe bouts of red tide have killed sea life, sent people with respiratory problems to emergency rooms and cost our economy millions of dollars in lost revenues,” said Buchanan whose district includes Mote Marine Laboratory.  “The provision mirrors our legislation by authorizing more federal dollars for research that can be used to find solutions to harmful algal blooms and their devastating effects on marine life, human health and our economy.  Now Congress must take the next step and increase our federal investment in red tide research, and I look forward to working with congressional leaders to increase funding for this important research.”

Like the Save Our Shores Act, the CJS appropriations bill authorizes $90 million over a three-year period for competitive, peer-reviewed scientific research on red tide and other harmful algal blooms.  In addition, the save our shores bill would require a task force of scientists to report the results of this research annually to Congress.  The bill already has 28 cosponsors. 

The bill also included the following federal funding sought by Buchanan for important research being conducted by Mote and their partners:

• $600,000 for Mote Marine Laboratory and the National Shark Consortium for its migratory shark fishery research program.  The consortium is conducting collaborative, multi-regional biological research on highly migratory species of sharks to gather information necessary to effectively manage and conserve threatened fish resources. 
• $400,000 for Science Consortium for Ocean Replenishment (SCORE) at Mote Marine Laboratory.  Score is a multi-state initiative for the recovery of the nation’s ocean fisheries.