For Immediate Release: June 27, 2022
Contact: Ben Martens, 207-619-1755; ben@mainecoastfishermen.org
HOUSE COMMERCE, JUSTICE, AND SCIENCE APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE DIRECTS FUNDING TO THE YOUNG FISHERMEN’S DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM IN DRAFT FY23 REPORT
Today, the Fishing Communities Coalition (FCC) applauded House appropriators for directing $1,000,000 in funding to the Young Fishermen’s Development Grant Program in the draft Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) Commerce, Justice, Science, and related agencies (CJS) report. The FCC thanks Representatives Seth Moulton (D-MA) and Garret Graves (R-LA) for leading the FY23 House request, along with fellow champions Reps. Jared Huffman (D-CA), Chris Pappas (D-NH), Jared Golden (D-ME), Chellie Pingree (D-ME), Bill Keating (D-MA), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), and Al Lawson (D-FL).
This grant program has remained a top priority for the FCC since the organization first proposed the idea in 2015. Most recently, the FCC urged leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees to include funding for the program in the FY23 CJS bill. The authorizing legislation for the program, The Young Fishermen’s Development Act, was enacted on January 5, 2021 (P.L. 116-289), and while the Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) appropriations package included language encouraging the National Sea Grant Program to prioritize the program, this draft subcommittee report marks the first time House appropriators directed funding to launch this critical program.
The Young Fishermen’s Development Program is a workforce development grant program to educate, train, and mentor young and beginning commercial fishermen. Eligible applicants for the program include state Sea Grant programs, state, local, and tribal organizations, community-based NGOs, fishermen’s cooperatives or associations, colleges, and universities. This program is a first-of-its-kind national program, following in the footsteps of numerous successful regional-level efforts, many of which were spearheaded by FCC member organizations.
A program to educate and train the next generation of commercial fishermen is needed now more than ever. Although the U.S. is among the leading fishing nations in the world—generating more than $165 billion in sales and supporting 1.2 million jobs every year—commercial fishermen face increasingly difficult hurdles to success, including rising costs of entry, daunting financial risks, limited entry-level opportunities, and changing ocean dynamics and ecosystems. These and other challenges have only been further exacerbated over the last few years during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although this is just the first step of the appropriations process, the FCC thanks House champions and appropriators for recognizing this challenging environment as well as the value and importance of America’s commercial fishermen. We look forward to continuing our work with Congress to ensure future generations of commercial fishermen in the United States not only survive but thrive.