US: Oregon legislators urge the USDA to make more West Coast seafood purchases

A group of U.S. senators and representatives from Oregon are urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture to increase government purchases of seafood originating from the West Coast.The USDA made USD 52 million (EUR 48 million) in seafood purchases from the U.S. West Coast in 2022 at the legislators’ urging but, previous to that, had not requested Pacific Coast seafood in its commodity-purchasing programs, according to a letter sent to USDA Administrator Bruce Summers from U.S. senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden and U.S. representatives Suzanne Bonamici, Val Hoyle, and Andrea Salinas “This change has proven essential, especially for Oregon’s smaller coastal communities that are continuing to recover from the devastating impacts spurred by the Covid-19 pandemic, international conflicts, and many other factors,” according to a joint press release from the senators and representatives.Commercial fishing and seafood processing on the U.S. West Coast “are significant contributors to the ...