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lar interest in making sure that the ocean side of your agency did 

 have proper consideration and adequate funds because I think the 

 fisheries in particular, and oceanographic and all of that is very, 

 very important. And I have always felt like it sometimes seemed 

 to get kind of gobbled up by the dry side of the program, so to 

 speak. 



In this year's budget, NOAA received a net increase of $200 mil- 

 lion, I believe. The bulk of that increase went to the National 

 Weather Service and NESDIS, and while the Weather Service and 

 NESDIS and the atmospheric programs under OAR received a net 

 increase of over $250 million, NOS and the ocean programs under 

 OAR were cut by almost $22 million. 



Why does NOAA give the dry programs such a priority over the 

 ocean and coastal management and research programs, which I 

 think are very important to our country, and certainly important 

 to my State and States like Massachusetts? 



Dr. Baker. Well, Senator, I cannot take full responsibility for 

 previous NOAA budgets, but I share your concern about the oceans 

 part of NOAA. And I think you will see in our strategic planning 

 process that we began in the last couple of months and in our fiscal 

 year 1995 budget an attempt to really look at that question and try 

 to readdress that general issue of the wet side versus the dry side. 



I think one has to recognize that there has been a commitment 

 in NOAA to do the Weather Service modernization. And to the ex- 

 tent that that has skewed the budget some, we may be seeing those 

 priorities. But as I say, I think you will find the new NOAA man- 

 agement is very mucn committed to redressing and emphasizing 

 the ocean side. 



Senator Lott. Very good. Dr. Baker, the 1990 amendments to 

 the Magnuson Fisheries Management and Conservation Act estab- 

 lished new responsibilities for NMFS, including shrimp fishery by- 

 catch reduction, highly migratory species management, as well as 

 tuna labeling requirements. How are these responsibilities going to 

 be addressed in the 1994 budget? 



Dr. Baker. If I could, Senator, could I get the Acting Director of 

 the National Marine Fisheries Service to answer that question; 

 Nancy Foster? 



Senator Lott. I am particularly interested in shrimp fisheries 

 by-catch and the migratory species management, but I know others 

 are interested in the tuna labeling requirements. 



Dr. Foster. On the shrimp by-catch study, even though we did 

 not get any additional funding for that, we have been proceeding 

 with that study, working with industry, and hope to have some- 

 thing available by December of this year. 



Senator Lott. If I could ask you right there, if you should get 

 some additional funds earmarked for the shrimp by-catch problem, 

 what amount of money would be usable in the first year? And I see 

 you have got your budget man sitting up there, smiling. But are 

 you talking about a $2.5 million program? What are you talking 

 about? 



Dr. Foster. Do you mean the first year after we come out with 

 the study? Do you mean in fiscal year 1995? 



Senator Lott. Well, let me maybe ask you to for the record get 

 that information because I am working with others in the House 



