Rep. Huffman Introduces Bill to Reauthorize National Sea Grant College Program

January 28, 2016

WASHINGTON, D.C.—This week Congressman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) introduced the Opportunities in Cooperative Education And New (OCEAN)  Research Partnerships Act, new legislation to reauthorize NOAA’s National Sea Grant College Program through 2021. The Sea Grant program, first established in 1966, allows NOAA to collaborate with a network of states and universities on important research on issues facing America’s ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resources.

“Building resilient coastal communities and economies is critical to families in my district who depend on sustainable coastal ecosystems, and that’s why the Sea Grant program is so important,” Huffman said. “Through my work with the Sea Grant program in Congress and in California, I have seen firsthand the impacts of NOAA’s Sea Grant research. Now more than ever, we need the expertise of the Sea Grant program to help us find solutions to the problems facing our coastal resources.”

The bill introduced this week by Huffman, who serves as the ranking Democrat on the Water, Power, and Oceans Subcommittee, would advance the long-running program’s capability to train generations of coastal and ocean scientists and to address regional and national issues in partnership with states, universities, researchers, and local resource managers. Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), the ranking Democrat of the Natural Resources Committee, joined Rep. Huffman as a co-lead of the bill.

"Sea Grant and its programs are vital to our coastal economies and our ocean environment,” said Grijalva. “Especially as fishermen, shellfish farmers, and coastal communities face new challenges from climate change, we need to fund Sea Grant research and extension work now more than ever."

In FY 2014, the National Sea Grant College Program invested $15.9 million in hundreds of projects around the country to improve fisheries management, conserve protected fish and seabirds, and improve coastal planning. The network of 33 university-based programs uses scientific information to create tools, services, and products that benefit coastal residents every day.

To read the full text of the bill, click here.

 

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