Congressman Huffman Pushes For Kelp Protections

Congressman Jared Huffman is proposing the passage of the The Keeping Ecosystems Living and Productive, or KELP Act to establish a new grant program to support projects aimed at conserving, restoring and managing kelp forest ecosystems, including those along the Sonoma and Mendocino coasts. The grant program would run for four years with a budget of $50 million per year, and include grants for local tribes, academic researchers, members of the fishing industry, nonprofits, and state agencies. On the North coast, more than 95% of kelp forests have been lost due to higher ocean temperatures in recent years. This has limited kelp growth, and contributed to sea star wasting disease that removed a key predator of purple sea urchins.

Source: Sonoma County’s FM News Talk

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