Marine Resources Department to Shift $2 Million in Relief Funds to Seafood Marketing
The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources intends to move more than $2 million in pending disaster-relief funds into a new seafood marketing campaign, an official identified as the agency's director told a state commission.
At an Aug. 20 meeting of the Mississippi Advisory Commission on Marine Resources, Director Spraggins, said, "Right now, we're looking at a little over $2 million that we're going to move and we're going to move it into seafood marketing."
The official described the reallocation as part of a broader $9 million, five-year project aimed at promoting Mississippi seafood. The funds reportedly stem from earlier disaster-relief settlement money and would require approval from NOAA before being redirected.
The proposal drew attention because it would commit a large sum of public money to a marketing effort outside the state's normal appropriations process, raising questions about oversight of settlement-derived funds. Such reallocations, tracked by government-spending watchdogs, often prompt scrutiny over whether public agencies should fund promotional campaigns that a private industry might otherwise finance itself. The commission gave no indication of a final decision date pending NOAA's review.