Griffin said those recipients are expected to include groundfishermen who fish on state permits, as well as those who fish on federal permits. The current draft of the Phase 2 distribution plan, according to Griffin, calls for the next largest portion of assistance to go to eligible crew members, followed by for-hire charter owners, shoreside businesses and sector administrations. Read more here @ reformulated GDT 08:07
NILS STOLPE: The New England groundfish debacle (Part IV): Is cutting back harvest really the answer?
While it’s a fact that’s hardly ever acknowledged, the assumption in fisheries management is that if the population of a stock of fish isn’t at some arbitrary level, it’s because of too much fishing. Hence the term “overfished.” Hence the mandated knee jerk reaction of the fisheries managers to not enough fish; cut back on fishing. What of other factors? They don’t count. It’s all about fishing, because fishing is all that the managers can control; it’s their Maslow’s Hammer. When it comes to the oceans it seems as if it’s about all that the industry connected mega-foundations that support the anti-fishing ENGOs with hundreds of millions of dollars a year in “donations” are interested in controlling. Read the article here
The $8.3 million is the second part of the $14.8 million targeted for Massachusetts from the $75 million appropriated in January by Congress. The first phase includes the $6.5 million in direct assistance currently being distributed in lump-sum payments of $32,500 to 201 eligible Bay State permit holders.Griffin said an additional 68 payments went out last Friday and are expected to reach the beneficiaries today. That will bring the total number of permit holders who have received direct assistance to 125 — 60 of whom are Essex County-based permit holders.
“The money is starting to roll out now,” Griffin said. “The plan now is to try to release more of the money every Friday so the permit holders see the funds in their accounts early the next week.”