According to a recent CNN article there is a proposed $250m cut to the NOAA budget. Exact wording below. Interested in how this will effect M&SAct enforcement…
• Cuts $250 million by zeroing out National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration grants and programs that support coastal and marine management, research and education
Thats crazy and somehow not surprising. Govt spends the least amount on things that matter and the most on bs private contracts for unnecessary stuff
Although that worries me a bit, I’m not convinced that anything CNN says is true anymore. They seem to tell only 1/3 the story.
Their website doesn’t say anything about that. I would shop around before believing CNN anymore.
From the White House website.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/omb/budget/fy2018/2018_blueprint.pdf
Zeroes out over $250 million in targeted National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) grants and programs supporting coastal and marine management, research, and education
including Sea Grant, which primarily benefit industry and State and local stakeholders.
These programs are a lower priority than core functions maintained in the Budget such as
surveys, charting, and fisheries management.
Sea Hunt 207CC,Yam F150
Carolina Skiff (old school model)17’ Suz D50
If this goes through it would devastate SCDNR’s Marine Division which relies on competitive federal grants for over 50% of its operating budget with the rest coming from fishing license revenues and federal excise taxes on fishing gear. I have heard the state legislature appropriates about $500,000 out of their 14.9 billion dollar state budget to marine fisheries operations.
Go Trump???
Goodbye fish