Affected by Bonnet Carré opening? $21 million is on the way to MS seafood industry
Over $21.3 million in federal funding is on its way for fishermen, aquaculture businesses and seafood processors in South Mississippi.
Sen. Roger Wicker and Rep. Steven Palazzo announced Monday the allocation of the fishery disaster relief funds for the state from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
The funds are meant to help those impacted financially as a result of prolonged freshwater inundation into the Gulf of Mexico from the opening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway.
“These funds are welcome news for the many fishermen who suffered through last year’s unprecedented opening of the Bonnet Carré Spillway, but our state deserves a long-term solution to disasters like these,” Wicker said in a press release. “I am working to reform the disaster relief process so that funds can be distributed quickly and directly to the people who need them most.”
Wicker added that he is pushing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to weigh alternatives to opening the spillway.
Monday’s announcement came after the Department of Commerce initially approved then Gov. Phil Bryant’s June request for a disaster declaration in September.
Palazzo acknowledged the process to allocate the funding took longer than he’d hoped.
“While we appreciate this assistance in our recover, we must reform the way federal fisheries disasters are evaluated and approved,” he said in a press release.
The Bonnet Carre Spillway was last opened on April 3, marking a record-setting third year in a row for the spillway to open. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began to close it 11 days later.
In 2019, the longest opening in the history of the spillway, decimated oyster beds and killed other aquatic life, like dolphins and sea turtles.
