The executive director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority is blasting the federal government for not giving Louisiana a larger share of $85 million designed to help the Gulf Coast fishing industry recover from the 2005 hurricanes.

Under a proposed spending plan by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Louisiana would receive less than half of the $85 million, Andy Kopplin said.

"This proposed allocation directly contradicts NOAA's own assessments, which estimate Katrina's financial impact on Louisiana's fishing industry to be $2.1 billion. That's 2.5 times more damage sustained in Mississippi and nearly 75 times the amount estimated in Alabama," Kopplin said.

Kopplin said Louisiana generates more than 76 percent of the annual catch in all the disaster declared parishes and counties in the Gulf Coast and was impacted by two storms in 2005.

Credit: CityBusiness Staff Report