Text 18953, 143 rader
Skriven 2006-04-14 17:19:00 av JIM HOLSONBACK (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av BOB SAKOWSKI
Ärende: Chief Criminal
======================
Speaking of Bayou la Batre, do you think a part of $1.1 Bln might help?

-=> on 04-13-06 12:42, BOB SAKOWSKI wrote to BART VERHAEGHE <=-
<   >
 BS> On the Alabama Gulf Coast, west of Mobile.

 BS> Prior to being visited by Katrina, it was a
 BS> very busy center for fishermen and shrimpers.

 BS> As you can imagine, the area took a major hit
 BS> and has yet to rebound.  For the most part,
 BS> it has yet to even begin the rebound.

 BS> So much for compassionate conservatism, eh?

Senator Shelby to the Rescue!
And he's - -  he's a damned REPUBLICAN!

It'll be interesting to see how much of this money makes it through.

- - -  JimH.
  *****************

-Shelby pushing aid for Gulf Coast watermen
-Friday, April 14, 2006
-By ANDREW TAYLOR -Associated Press Writer

-WASHINGTON -- The shrimpers, fishing captains and oystermen along the
-Gulf Coast seem like the forgotten ones as the government funnels aid
-to a region devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Even their own governors
-have higher priorities.

-Very little of the $68 billion appropriated has found its way to the
-watermen of the Gulf or to rebuild onshore facilities. Massive amounts
-of debris make shrimping dangerous in many areas. Oysterbeds are
-ruined by silt.

-As the Senate prepares to debate the latest Katrina aid bill, the
-watermen of Louisiana and Mississippi are pinning their hopes on an
-ambitious $1.1 billion aid plan by Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa, a
-member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

-The measure includes:
-- $300 million to rebuild destroyed marinas, piers, docks, wharves and
warehouses that support the commercial and recreational fishing industry.
-- $300 million to help replace fishing equipment and infrastructure,
including icehouses and processing facilities.
-- $100 million to help fishermen and seafood workers clean up and repair
-damaged facilities.
-- $100 million to pay for the rehabilitation of oyster beds and shrimp
-grounds.

-Govs. Haley Barbour, R-Miss., and Kathleen Blanco, D-La., have focused
-on getting money for housing, levees and rebuilding facilities such as
-shipyards, military facilities and Coast Guard bases.

-Alabama had significantly less damage from last year's storms than did
-those two states. But Bayou La Batre, which bills itself as the seafood
-capital of Alabama, did suffer a big blow.

-That may explain Shelby's focus on fisheries. The Senate committee this
-month approved a $106.5 billion measure that combines $27.1 billion in
-aid for hurricane victims with $72.4 billion for the war in Iraq and
-other terrorism-fighting efforts.

-Shelby's plan won approval by the committee with a voice vote and
-minimal debate, but faces an uncertain future. The White House did not
-request the fisheries money when submitting its $19.8 billion relief
-plan in February.

-The proposed legislation "tells me somebody's listening to our industry
-in Washington, and it's Sen. Shelby," said Ernie Anderson, Bayou La
-Batre dock owner and president of the Organized Seafood Association of
-Alabama. Anderson said he hopes to use part of the funding to build a
-"working waterfront" in the Bayou -- a channel cut several hundred
-yards inland from the bayou, outfitted with an array of docks and
-surrounded by seafood processing and storage facilities. It would also
-be protected on land by a 17-foot-high sand wall, and on water by a
-flood gate system.

-The waterfront would separate the seafood industry from the rest of
-Bayou La Batre, freeing the city to develop its tourism industry while
-maintaining its seafood economy, Anderson said.

-The White House make its views known when the bill reaches the full
-Senate on April 25. The administration is more likely to take aim at $4
-billion in emergency aid to farmers that the committee added to Bush's
-request than it is to the fisheries provision.

-Conservatives in the House are pushing to keep the bill's total cost to
-Bush's request; few, if any, believe Shelby will emerge from
-House-Senate negotiations with the full $1.1 billion.

-"If it's half that it's still a heck of a lot of money," said Bill
-Walker, executive director of the Mississippi Department of Marine
-Resources.

-The fisheries aid is competing with add-ons such as money for education
-and port security, as well as the disaster aid for farmers. All were
-added to a measure drafted by the committee chairman, Sen. Thad
-Cochran, R-Miss.

-Cochran had included $30 million for mapping the extent of underwater
-debris as a step toward making fishing grounds safe. An additional $15
-million would go to rehabilitating oyster beds, most of which were
-destroyed by Katrina.
-Katrina "covered the reef up (with silt) on the way in and gouged it
-out on the way out," Walker said.

-Even before the hurricane, the industry hardly was thriving. Imports of
-shrimp from Asia had lowered prices to the point where most shrimpers
-were just getting by, said Karen Foote, administrator of the Fisheries
-Division at the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

-The value of commercial harvest upon first sale -- what is paid to
-watermen for their catch -- in the areas hit by hurricanes Katrina and
-Rita was about $600 million. The total impact on the economy is much
-greater.

-Infrastructure such as icehouses, processing plants, wharves and
-marinas took a devastating blow. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric
-Administration estimates losses of $330 million in capital
-infrastructure throughout the Gulf.

-It is not known how many boats were sunk or destroyed; the Coast Guard
-puts it at as many as 5,000.
-Foote said most shrimpers could not afford insurance for their boats
-and that many processors and other onshore facilities were
-underinsured. "Nothing's been done on the federal level to address the
-loss of infrastructure," Foote said. Ironically, the fishery -- save
-for oyster beds -- is thriving. Since fewer boats are on the water, the
-Gulf is teeming with fish and shrimp. "If we can get the infrastructure
-up and running, there's stuff to catch," said Steve Murawski, chief
-fisheries scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
-Administration. Press-Register reporter Russ Henderson contributed to
-this story.

-© 2006 The Mobile Register
-© 2006 al.com All Rights Reserved.

... Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're _not_ out to get you.
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