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Washington, D.C. --- U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), a member of the Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans Subcommittee of the Natural Resources Committee, today pressed Vice Admiral Conrad Lautenbacher, Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), about funding for updating fisheries data systems.
"Admiral, I'm sure you are aware that the National Research Council reported last year that the Marine Recreational Fishery Statistics Survey was poorly designed and inappropriate for doing stock assessments, even though it is used that way," Pallone said at a hearing on the Fiscal Year 2008 budget for NOAA. "The Magnuson Act reauthorization required that the survey be updated with a newer, more accurate system. Will the budget put NMFS on track to fully update the system by the statutory deadline of January 1, 2009?"
Lautenbacher replied that the budget contains $3 million for FY08 for updating MRFSS and that NMFS would begin working on the system during the current fiscal year. The Administrator would not, however, ensure that the Bush administration would provide sufficient funding for the full MRFSS update or that NMFS would be able to comply with the January 1, 2009 deadline under the Magnuson-Stevens Act reauthorization law passed last year.
Pallone also noted that the overall budget for fisheries research and management is slated to increase by $27.7 million under the FY08 budget.
"Does that increase reflect a longer-term commitment by the Administration to improving fisheries data collection?" Pallone asked Lautenbacher. "As you probably know, fishermen around the country are generally very frustrated with the state of fisheries science. Do you have any idea what level of funding commitment would be required to really improve our level of understanding in terms of stock size and fishing impacts?"
Lautenbacher agreed that further funding needs to be put into improvements in fisheries science and data collection, but would not commit to a specific funding level. |
