Bill Keating: “This is another amendment that will reduce the cost of monitoring on fishermen. My amendment would allow the National…”

“This is another amendment that will reduce the cost of monitoring on fishermen. My amendment would allow the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, to spend the fees they collect from penalties that are assessed against violators of fisheries regulations to help defray the costs related to monitoring. Being able to use the fees in this way will actually help NOAA prevent against future violations, as well as possibly reduce the cost to fishermen themselves. Currently, these fees can be used only to support NOAA enforcement actions. While enforcement is important, it unnecessarily prevents NOAA from spending these funds on preventing violations in the first place. Electronic monitoring and at-sea monitoring trips help to ensure that these kinds of abuses do not occur. This makes them a critical tool to NOAA in enforcing regulations and ensuring that our fisheries remain sustainable. Countless fishermen in my district have been suffering this past year because a select few decided to abuse the system. Greater investments in monitoring may have helped prevent this massive fraud that occurred. However, now that it has, it is important that measures be put in place to prevent anything like this from ever happening again. That means funding for prevention and monitoring.…”