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Members warn NOAA staffing, budget cuts are hampering fisheries science and safety
Summary
Witnesses and lawmakers told the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries that recent staffing and budget cuts at NOAA are delaying stock assessments, cancelling surveys and safety services, and raising uncertainty for commercial and recreational fishermen.
The House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries heard repeated testimony that staffing and budget reductions at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are disrupting fisheries science, delaying management decisions and degrading services fishermen rely on.
Ranking Member Hoyle said the Trump administration’s recent personnel reductions at NOAA have “thrown fishing communities into chaos,” and that “over one third of the NOAA Fisheries positions are now vacant.” She and witnesses described canceled surveys, interrupted permit reviews and reduced agency travel that have delayed hatchery compliance decisions and stock assessments.
The lack of timely science matters because fishery managers use those data to set seasons and quotas. Rick Belvance,…
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