Funding Cut for Alaska Fishing Industry Health and Safety Agency, Dissolving Certification Program for Mariners

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), an agency within the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), was forced to lay off its entire staff on May 2.

The Alaska Marine Safety and Education Association (AMSEA) has issued a dire warning as new funding cuts and reorganization under the Trump administration threaten to end safety training credited with saving lives in the Alaska fishing industry as a whole. As a result, safety training has been eliminated, and mariners cannot go out on fishing vessels without the training certification, devastating the the Alaskan fishing industry as of July 1.