FY '99 NMFS Budget Request

The National Marine Fisheries Service is responsible for the management, conservation, and protection of living marine resources within the United States Exclusive Economic Zone. The Agency also plays a support and advisory role in the management of living marine resources in coastal areas under state jurisdiction, provides scientific and policy leadership in the international arena, and implements internationally agreed-upon conservation and management measures. Through science-based conservation and management and promotion of the health of coastal and marine ecosystems, benefits to the Nation from the sustainable use of living marine resources are maximized. Authorities are derived primarily from the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSFCMA), the Sustainable Fisheries Act amendments to the MSFCMA, the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA); the Endangered Species Act (ESA); and various other statutes that confer a mandate to reduce and mitigate degradation and loss of living marine resources habitat. Other legislative Acts provide authorities for enforcement, seafood safety, and cooperative efforts with states, interstate commissions, and other countries.

The FY 1999 Budget request includes increases required to achieve NOAA's strategic plan goals to Build Sustainable Fisheries; Recover Protected Species; and Sustain Healthy Coasts. New mandates under the Sustainable Fisheries Act call for improved and expanded research to support fisheries management decisions and set new national standards which will entail significant costs for new management programs and additional data and analyses. Workloads associated with the management of West Coast salmon to meet the objectives of the Endangered Species Act continue to escalate.

For FY 1999, the National Marine Fisheries Service requests $351.4 million. This is a net increase of $9.1million over the FY 1999 base and consists of $35.4 million in program increases directly related to mandated activities under the recent Sustainable Fisheries Act amendments to the Magnuson-Stevens Act, to the increased workload associated with protecting and restoring Pacific salmon, and habitat conservation. To offset these requested increases for mandated program activities, decreases of $26.3 million are proposed for lower priority items and for one-time funding needs.

The NMFS FY 1999 base reflects the proposed transfer of $2.2 million for Beaufort and Oxford Laboratories to NOS in FY 1998. The base also reflects the movement from the $3.8 million in the Resources Information line item in FY 1999 for Dolphin Encirclement Studies required by the International Dolphin Conservation Act to the Protected Species Management line item.

The FY 1999 proposed appropriation establishes authority to collect fees to begin to offset costs associated with providing fisheries management and enforcement. A proposal for the fees is being developed, and receipts will be collected from fees assessed on landings of commercial fishermen in the U.S. The $19.8 million in estimated fees will be used to offset the overall NOAA Budget Authority and Appropriation in FY 1999.

Detailed Program Changes

Information Collection and Analysis - The goal of this budget sub-activity is to provide accurate and timely analyses on the biological, ecological, economic, and social aspects of the Nation's use of its living marine resources in support of Administration goals to Build Sustainable Fisheries, Recover Protected Species, and Sustain Healthy Coasts. Also included are activities to determine the impacts of the incidental taking of marine mammals and endangered species; to develop forecast models for marine resource populations, ecosystems, and fishery systems; to improve the quality and timeliness of information on living marine resources, their habitats and their use; and to provide $1.9 million within the base program for information and services critical to the Administration's South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Initiative. In FY 1999, NMFS requests a net decrease of $6.5 million for this sub-activity which consists of $10.5 million increases and $16.9 million of program decreases for items not requested in FY 1998.

NOAA requests a net decrease of $5.2 million from the FY 1999 base for the Resource Information line item.

NMFS requests a net decrease of $1.1 million for the Resource Information base line item. This net change consists of $9.0 million in program increases and $10.1 million of program decreases. Of this $9.0 million increase, $5.9 million will be used to restore the FY 1997 level of base programs which was reduced in FY 1998 to cover the costs of report assignments, and to provide for the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Initiative. Without the restoration of this funding, research activities at NMFS laboratories in FY 1999 will be below FY 1997 levels.

$3.1 million in increases is required to support the Administration's Council on Sustainable Development to replenish and protect fisheries. Section 203 (e) of the goals of Sustainable Fisheries Act amendments to the Magnuson-Stevens Act requires the Secretary of Commerce to undertake or expand efforts to achieve annual resource assessments in all regions by requiring that all stocks be assessed annually. Presently, some stocks are only assessed every three years, and some stocks are not assessed at all. NMFS will begin a multi-year effort to meet this requirement through the collection of additional fishery-dependent statistics, improved stock assessments, and increases in charter days-at-sea to complement the days-at-sea provided by NOAA vessels. The $10.1 million in decreases relate to appropriation report assignments for the Gulf of Mexico Consortium, Gulf and Atlantic States Fish Development Foundation, the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission, Chuckchi Sea study, Atlantic herring/mackerel, Summer flounder, and Aquatic Resources Initiative (see bracketed amounts in accompanying table).

In addition, eight decreases totaling $4.1 million are proposed for other lower priority programs in Resource Information: Chesapeake Bay Studies, Right Whale Research, MARFIN, Alaskan Groundfish Surveys, Hawaii Stock Management Plans, Hawaiian Monk Seals, Stellar Sea Lion Recovery Plan, and Bluefish/Striped Bass Research (see amounts in accompanying table).

NOAA requests a net decrease of $1.3 million for the Fishery Industry Information line item. An increase of $1.5 million is requested for the collection of fisheries statistics and performance of economic analyses required by the new National Standard 8 of the Sustainable Fisheries Act. This mandates that conservation and management measures consider the economic impacts on fishing communities.

The increase will initiate a comprehensive plan in all NMFS regions for fisheries data collection on the socioeconomic characteristics of commercial and recreational fishermen, economic values within fisheries, and vessel data within fisheries, all of which will improve the analytical capability to predict and monitor the economic and social consequences of management decisions. Three decreases totaling $2.8 million are requested for lower priority activities: Alaska groundfish monitoring, PACFIN, and recreational fishery harvest monitoring.

Conservation and Management Operations - This budget sub-activity provides for the development and implementation of Fishery Management Plans (FMPs) under the Magnuson-Stevens Act and the Sustainable Fisheries Act, and for the management of protected species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). It also provides for the enforcement of laws and regulations under these and other statutes as well as for the protection of habitats. Funding for the eight Regional Fishery Management Councils is included in this sub-activity, as is funding for Mitchell Act hatcheries along the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest. A net increase of $19.5 million is requested for the sub-activity Conservation and Management Operations; this consists of $24.7 million of program increases, offset by $5.2 million of program decreases.

NOAA requests a net increase of $6.9 million for the Fisheries Management Programs line item. A net $9.6 million increase is requested to implement the Sustainable Fisheries Act and provide additional funding for the Regional Councils. These increases are offset by $4.3 million in decreases for items funded in FY 1998 above the President's FY 1998 request (one-time funding for repair of certain hatcheries and an increase for research and management of pelagics in the Pacific). An $8.7 million increase in the Fisheries Management Programs base line item is requested to initiate compliance with the SFA amendments to the Magnuson-Stevens Act which include implementation of new national standards, description and identification of Essential Fish Habitat (EFH), and incorporation of management measures to mitigate the adverse impacts of fishing on EFH. $0.9 million will be provided to the Regional Fishery Management Councils to support their review of existing fishery management plans and incorporation of Essential Fish Habitat in fishery management plans, per the new requirements of the Sustainable Fisheries Act. Also required are revised Fishery Management Plans to rebuild overfished fisheries. Other multi-year activities required to support the Council on Sustainable Development's goal to replenish and protect fisheries include development of programs related to management of fishing effort, e.g., a central registry system of limited access permit systems, a standardized vessel registration system, inventory and regulation of allowable gear by fishery, and special studies, reports, and advisory panels. A $1.7 million increase is requested for the Federal Ship Financing Fund (FSFF) administrative costs. These costs include managing the portfolio of loans that existed for the FSFF prior to FY 1992 plus all guaranteed and direct loans awarded since FY 1992. From FY 1996 through FY 1998, Congress reduced NOAA's ORF budget authority by $1.7 million and directed NOAA to use the FSFF to cover these expenses. The President's Budget requests the restoration of this $1.7 million to the Fisheries Management Program line item and does not propose the continuation of the financing adjustment in FY 1999 as there are no available balances for these costs in the FSFF.

NOAA requests a net increase of $9.3 million for Protected Species Management. A $10.3 million program increase is to establish core science and management competency and scientific research to support expert consultation and advice to public and private landowners and resource users to promote action that leads to the recovery of endangered and at-risk salmonids. NOAA has used the ESA's flexibility to work cooperatively with the States of Oregon and Maine to develop salmon conservation plans thereby preventing Federal listings of Atlantic and West coast salmon species. This increase also supports recovery actions for right whales, Hawaiian monk seals and Stellar sea lions. A $3.3 million program (a decrease of $0.5 million from the $3.8 million FY 1999 base) is requested to fund the second year implementation of the International Dolphin Conservation Act. This will continue a four-year study on the effects of encirclement of dolphins as a method for harvesting tuna and development of a tracking and monitoring system for verification of "dolphin-safe" tuna imports. A decrease of $0.4 million is requested to end funding to the University of Alaska for fishery observer training program which is duplicative of other training available at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center in Seattle, Washington.

An increase of $2.3 million, including $1.5 million for DARP, is requested for the Habitat Conservation line item to provide operational and programmatic capability for the Restoration Center which serves as NOAA's focal point for habitat restoration, restoring fish habitat and other living and nonliving natural resources injured by human activities, and transferring restoration technology to the public and private sectors. In addition, the Center coordinates NMFS' participation in both the Coastal America Program and in projects conducted under the NOAA/Corps of Engineers Memorandum of Agreement for habitat creation within Corps public works program.

NOAA requests an increase of $0.9 million for Enforcement and Surveillance activities. This increase will advance critical enforcement and surveillance strategies through the Voluntary Compliance Programs, Vessel Monitoring Systems, and state performance contracts. All of these initiatives are essential to educate the public, deter potential offenders, and detect, apprehend, and prosecute willful violators of Federal statutes in support of the Nation's goal to replenish and protect fisheries.

State and Industry Assistance Programs - This budget sub-activity provides for product quality and safety research, grants to states under the Anadromous and Interjurisdictional Fisheries Acts, funding for the three Interstate Fisheries Commissions, and for the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Act. NMFS requests a net decrease of $3.9 million for FY 1999.

NOAA requests an increase of $0.3 million for the Anadromous Fishery Project (Striped Bass) in the Northeast. A decrease of $2.7 million is requested for one-time activities funded by the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Act and passed-through to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. A decrease of $0.8 million is requested to terminate funding to the Oceanic Institute in Hawaii for fisheries development activities. A decrease of 7 FTE and $0.7 million is requested to transfer product quality and safety program activities to the Food and Drug Administration as part of the Seafood Inspection PBO.