Photo courtesy of NOAA Fisheries
Fishing Industry still waiting for federal lifeline
Five weeks after Congress passed its largest emergency relief package in history, fishermen and the seafood industry have yet to receive any of the $300 million promised to them.
Lawmakers included the aid in a $2.2 trillion spending bill signed by President Trump on March 27, but NOAA has not announced how any of the money will be distributed.
That's a source of growing frustration for members of Congress who pushed hard for the assistance as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
Massachusetts Democratic Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren yesterday blamed the delay on "bureaucratic inefficiencies" and asked for an explanation from Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who oversees NOAA.
"This silence and delay poses a particular problem because fishery participants do not know how to determine whether they will be eligible for the CARES Act assistance," the senators said in a letter to Ross. "The Commerce Department needs to issue guidance as soon as possible so that fisheries aid can reach those who desperately need it."
The letter, which was also signed by Massachusetts Democratic Reps. William Keating and Seth Moulton, asked Ross what issues need to be resolved before the pandemic aid will be sent out and when that might happen.
Others have made similar appeals to NOAA, with no luck.
In a letter to Ross last week, Seafood Harvesters of America said the money should be "expeditiously disbursed" to save its industry (Greenwire, April 23).
And earlier this month, 39 House members wrote to Ross asking that he "quickly implement" the CARES Act as fishermen and seafood businesses face "unprecedented and severe impacts due to the novel coronavirus."
Rob Hotakainen, E&E News reporter