A new funding bill recently approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee will secure more than US$206 million for salmon recovery and marine habitat restoration.
The Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies bill for fiscal year 2024 funds the US Departments of Commerce and Justice along with critical agencies including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Senator Patty Murray, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has long made clear that the federal government must play its part in funding salmon recovery efforts, particularly as part of its obligation to Indigenous peoples.
“I can’t overstate how important this bill is to our economy,” said Senator Murray, “[such as] investments in NOAA to restore salmon, which are not just a cornerstone of our economy in Washington state, but a way of life.”
The legislation includes US$76 million for the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Pacific Salmon account, US$4 million more than the previous year, to support the agency’s work with endangered Pacific salmon species, as well as US$65 million for the NOAA Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund, and US$65.25 million for the Salmon Management Activities account.
NOAA also receives funding totalling more than US$245 million to help protect native species from the European green crab and support a variety of programmes and institutes, namely the National Sea Grant College Program, Integrated Ocean Observing System, Climate Laboratories and Cooperative Institutes, Climate Adaptation Partnership Program, and Joint Coast Guard-NOAA Cetacean Desk Pilot Program.
