As hard as it might be to believe, New Jersey may fail to get the funds it so desperately needs for recreational fisheries disaster relief.
In December, the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriation released the text of the Fiscal Year 2013 Disaster Assistance Supplemental which set aside USD 150 million for fisheries disasters. The funds were to be divided among four fisheries disasters: Blue crabs and oysters in Mississippi, chinook salmon in Alaska, groundfish in New England and the fishing industries in New Jersey and New York affected by Hurricane Sandy. All four disaster declarations were made by the Secretary of Commerce in 2012 and are waiting Congressional funding.
Since Congress adjourned without voting on the Sandy relief package, the Disaster Assistance Supplemental, which is part of that package, was delayed.
Now, for reasons that have yet to made clear, Rep. Ronald Frelinghuysen, R-NJ, has introduced legislation, H.R.-152, that will reduce the amount of the aid package from USD 150 million to USD 5 million, which would be still distributed among the same four disasters. Frelinghuysen represents District 11, which is centered in Morris County.
