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Politics : Sioux Nation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Patricia Trinchero who wrote (37948)	9/9/2005 12:27:57 PM
From: T L Comiskey	Respond to of 362340

US declares fisheries disaster after Katrina The US government declared a formal disaster zone for the Gulf of Mexico fishing industry after Hurricane Katrina destroyed one of the mainstays of the coastal economy. The declaration by Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez opens the way to federal relief for fishing communities such as Louisiana oystermen, who officials say have lost two-thirds of their annual harvest to Katrina. "We are taking action now because of the significant economic effects of Hurricane Katrina on fishing communities in the Gulf of Mexico," Gutierrez said Friday. After Hurricane Ivan struck the Gulf Coast a year ago, the federal government released nine million dollars in emergency aid to repair the oyster industry in the region. Along with Florida, which escaped the worst of Katrina's fury, the states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama produce the bulk of the oysters, shrimp, crab, grouper and red snapper caught in the United States. The Gulf of Mexico region normally supplies about 25 percent of the nation's seafood, and Louisiana's commercial fishing industry alone brings in 2.7 billion dollars a year. But now with a string of towns along the Gulf Coast in ruins, the fishing industry's infrastructure of boats, docks and ice-houses which store catches are feared to have been destroyed. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a branch of the Commerce Department, has sent teams of scientists to analyse Katrina's impact on coastal waters, and on the numbers and distribution of popular species. "Working with the Gulf states, NOAA will continue efforts to assess fishing industry damage and long-term impacts to the marine environment," said Bill Hogarth, director of the NOAA's Fisheries Service.