Tag Archives: Federal Disaster Relief funding
Disaster requests for Bering Sea crabbers highlight difficulty of getting financial relief to fishermen
The current process of getting financial relief to fishermen is cumbersome and takes a long time, but Bering Sea crabbers are hoping the plight of the snow crab population might change the way financial relief is delivered to fishermen. Gabriel Prout is a second-generation Bering Sea crab fisherman from Kodiak; he owns the F/V Silver Spray with his dad and brothers. He said there’s one big problem with the current process for handing out fishery disaster funding. “If you’re going to have a fishery disaster request program, you should be able to make it so the money is getting into the hands of those affected very quickly,” said Prout. Right now, it takes years for money to reach skippers and their crews. >click to read< 13:44
Some Mass Lawmakers fear some Cape Cod fishermen will miss out on aid
Many Cape Cod fishermen, operating under shrunken quotas for cod, have shifted their focus to catching other fish species such as dogfish, skate and monkfish. But that business decision, some lawmakers worry, could be jeopardizing the fishermen’s ability to qualify for the last pot of federal disaster relief funding being dispersed by the Baker administration to help offset the hit to their livelihoods from declining fish populations. Read the rest here 14:10
Maine groundfishermen hurt by quota cuts to receive $640,000 in disaster relief
The funds will be distributed in the form of rebates to fishermen for the fees they pay at the Portland Fish Exchange. About 40 fishing boats that sell fish at the city-owned exchange will benefit as the money is distributed over the next year and a half, said General Manager Bert Jongerden. He said the fish exchange handles about 98 percent of the groundfish landed in Maine. “This is one way the government has seen to put money directly back onto the crews’ pockets,” Jongerden said. Read the rest here 08:24
If You are counting on Federal Disaster Relief funding,,,,“The New England and West Coast delegations are very good at grabbing that money,”
“We’ll be competing with every state to get a share of that money,” Thomas P. Fote, legislative chairman of the Jersey Shore Anglers Association, said. The original fisheries disaster funding of 2013 would have sent money to the Sandy-struck mid-Atlantic states; New England fishermen beleaguered with quota cutbacks; and Gulf of Mexico and Northwest fishermen who saw big drops in crab and salmon numbers. Now it’s likely to be a free-for-all asking for money, Fote said. (?) Read more@dailyjournal 15:51
