President Barack Obama’s proposed economic stimulus plan, passed by the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, is expected to help boost restaurant operators and the seafood industry.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which still must go through difficult negotiations between the U.S. House and Senate, will likely boost consumer confidence and spending if passed, sources told Seafood Source.
“The majority of seafood is eaten in restaurants. The more people feel comfortable spending their discretionary income on eating out, the better things will get,” said Gavin Gibbons, spokesman for the National Fisheries Institute in McLean, Va. The overall package should boost consumer confidence, he added.
The National Restaurant Association also expects the economic recovery plan to “increase consumers’ disposable income and help restaurateurs with their tax burdens,” said NRA spokeswoman Maureen Ryan.
“A stimulus package that boosts consumer spending will be good for the restaurant industry,” she added.
The seafood industry is expected to benefit in other ways if the bill is passed. For example, the economic stimulus package would give up to $50,000 in grants to aquaculture producers who had experienced significantly higher feed costs than the five-year average.
Funding for some NOAA programs will also increase. The bill proposes $1.2 billion in additional funding for NOAA, with $772 million allotted for construction and repair of NOAA facilities, equipment and vessels; $300 million for critical habitat restoration; and $70 million for supercomputer infrastructure for climate research.
Providing more money to NOAA for expansions and improvements are necessary for the seafood industry, says Gibbons.
For example, NOAA considered canceling its annual clam survey in the Atlantic because of high fuel costs last year.
“If you are looking at an agency that has to make decisions based on fuel costs, this is an agency that could use federal dollars,” noted Gibbons.
