A Call for Fishery Relief

Representative Tim Bishop has joined a bipartisan group of 38 House and Senate lawmakers urging Congressional leadership to include fishing disaster relief in the final budget to fund government operations in 2014.

In a release dated Nov. 14, Mr. Bishop said that the group, which includes Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, represents fishing communities in 10 states and is asking that $150 million in funding for collapsed fisheries be made available quickly.

“Since 2012, the Department of Commerce declared a number of fishery failures in the U.S. Regrettably, funding has not been appropriated yet to deal with the effects of these disasters, which continue to affect communities in our states and districts,” the lawmakers wrote.