Federally declared fishery disasters have risen sharply in the United States over the past decade, but NOAA hasn’t stepped up its efforts to get relief dollars to affected communities, a new report found.
NOAA can take a long time — in some cases up to five years — to hand out financial assistance to fishermen and others dealing with a fishery collapse or other disaster, according to a report issued Wednesday by the Government Accountability Office.
The report examined the federal response to 111 fishery disaster requests since January 2014, finding that for nearly half of the approved requests, relief money began flowing at least 12 months after communities were hit by a disaster.
NOAA runs the aid program, although awards must be approved by the Commerce secretary.
