National Observer Program Annual Report - Office of Science and ...

2. FY 2012 Budget Summary
In FY 2012, total funding from all sources (including industry funding) for federal fisheries
observer programs was $69 million for observer coverage and program infrastructure (Table 1).
This funding enabled regional observer programs to provide coverage for 83,599 days at sea in
47 fisheries (Appendix A provides a detailed breakdown of funding and observer coverage levels
by program). The industry-provided portion of total funding in FY 2012 was $16 million.
Industry funds were used to support observer coverage of fishing vessels in the West Coast
groundfish trawl rationalization program, Atlantic sea scallop, and Alaska groundfish fisheries.
The majority of funding for observer programs comes from congressional appropriations. In FY
2012, congressional funding from all funding lines including the $39.6 million from the observer
budget line, totaled $54.9 million. In addition to direct budget lines, observer programs may
receive funding from federal appropriations supporting programs under the MSA, MMPA, and
ESA.
Regional and National Observer Program activities are funded through a number of dedicated
Congressional budget lines. Prior to 2012, the Reducing Bycatch line was split between the
Office of Science and Technology for observer activities and the Office of Sustainable Fisheries
for bycatch technology research. In FY 2012 Congress directed NMFS to make $2,500,000 of
the Reducing Bycatch line available for competitive grants to non-Federal researchers working
with U.S. fishermen on the development of improved fishing practices and innovative gear
technologies. This decreased available Reducing Bycatch funds for observer programs from
approximately $1.8 million to $471,321 annually.
Table 1. Federal appropriations supporting observer programs, FY 2012
A portion is
allocated to the
NOP and each
regional program
(See Appendix A).
Observer Budget Line Items
Line Total
National Observer Program $9,064,642
Reducing Bycatch $471,321
West Coast Observers $5,037,228
North Pacific Marine Resource Observers $5,771,685
Hawaii Longline Observer Program $5,346,830
New England Groundfish Court-Ordered Observers $8,672,440
East Coast Observers $354,375
Atlantic Coast Observers $3,498,072
South Atlantic/ Gulf of Mexico Shrimp Observers $1,831,571
Total Other Congressional Funding** 14,872,189
Total Congressional Funding (all sources) $54,920,353
Total Industry Funding $18,840,304
TOTAL OBSERVER FUNDING $73,760,657
**includes Catch Shares funding ($12,732,000), MMPA ($1,351,689), Fisheries Research ($728,500), and Marine Fisheries
Initiative ($60,000).
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