Fishing industry reports 'radio silence' on federal disaster aid

May 8--Six weeks ago, Sen. Edward Markey hosted a forum with fisheries representatives, state legislators and town officials to explain the $300 million federal aid package aimed at helping fishermen weather the disastrous impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on their industry. At the time, Markey said the aid package was a life raft intended to get them through the immediate crisis, and that this money would come much faster than other fisheries disaster aid programs.

The U.S. Department of Commerce and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are in charge of how the aid gets distributed, but there's been little in the way of communication coming from Washington on the aid package, fishing industry advocates say.

"What we've been getting is radio silence," said Rosanna Marie Neil, policy counsel for the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance. Neil works on Capitol Hill.

"Part of that is because NOAA is not well-equipped to deal with these very sudden disasters. Fisheries disaster relief measures typically involve a slow process."

"I keep hearing we will be sending out an announcement soon, but nothing more than that," said Allison Ferreira, communications supervisor for the Greater Atlantic Region of NOAA Fisheries.

With restaurants closed, the bulk of the domestic and international markets for seafood crashed, dramatically reducing demand at a time when many use the money from spring sales to ramp up for the busy summer season by paying off winter bills, making boat repairs, and buying new gear. Fishermen argue they need the money now, and last week, Markey, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Rep. Seth Moulton and Rep. William Keating expressed their frustration at the delay in a letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

"The CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act) was signed into law over a month ago, but the Commerce Department has yet to provide any instructions to the fishing or seafood industries on the application process for the $300 million in available emergency funds under the law, or how that money will be allocated," the legislators wrote.

They pointed out that NOAA made only one public statement about the aid money since the end of March, and that its website contains only six sentences about the CARES Act, mainly a request to fishermen to tell the agency how COVID-19 had affected them.

"(T)he lack of any further public announcements relating to CARES Act relief is simply unacceptable," the delegation wrote in their letter.

A spokesman for Markey said the group had not received a reply from Ross yet this week, and on Wednesday, Markey joined Warren and 23 other senators from coastal states in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer asking that the seafood industry be included in the next coronavirus relief measure. In asking for $2 billion more in relief money, the senators cited data showing $144 billion in seafood sales, adding $61 billion to the economy, creating a million jobs. They said that nearly 70% of the $102 billion consumers spent on seafood occurred in restaurants, many of which remain closed.

The Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance joined with over 100 fishing organizations representing 30,000 fishermen, along with food advocates, health care advocates and others in sending a separate letter to Ross and other federal officials asking for an additional $1.5 billion in emergency funding, with half of that money dedicated to small- and medium-scale fishermen and businesses. They also requested better access to Paycheck Protection Plan and EIDL grant money; greater shoreside infrastructure to support fishermen who want to sell directly to consumers; and free coronavirus testing and medical care as essential workers.

Their letter also lobbied for inclusion in the USDA food assistance program, which dates to the Great Depression, and authorizes the USDA to buy surplus food to deliver to schools, food banks and households in communities across the country. This week the Department of Agriculture agreed to buy $20 million in East Coast seafood under this program. Seafood is not traditionally listed as surplus food, but Markey, Warren, Moulton and Keating helped lobby the USDA to include it as such.

"It has been quite a ride," said Morgan Eldredge, a certified community health worker for the Massachusetts Fishing Partnership Support Service who helps fishermen apply for federal and state aid.

The first round of federal aid bypassed a lot of her clients, she said, but the state unemployment insurance program ended up being a lifeline for many when the self-employed were included in the program for the first time.

"We've seen great success with fishermen applying, being approved and receiving (state unemployment) funds," Eldredge said. She was encouraged when the most recent coronavirus aid package targeted those who didn't have a preexisting account with a bank, a stumbling block for many applying for the Paycheck Protection Program and the Small Business Administration Economic Disaster Loan.

"Anyone that didn't get in the opportunity before, should apply now," Eldredge said. She had heard that NOAA was still in the information-gathering stage on the $300 million fishing assistance package.

Follow Doug Fraser on Twitter: @dougfrasercct.

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