Photo courtesy of NOAA Fisheries
US harvesters press NOAA for CARES Act details, distribution of $300m
It’s been three weeks since the US Congress passed and president Donald Trump signed the third COVID-19 related stimulus bill, providing $300 million in relief for the seafood industry, and at least one group of wild catch harvesters is tired of waiting for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to publish its instructions on how the funds will be distributed.
“We call upon the Department of Commerce and NOAA to clearly articulate their distribution process for the $300 million in fisheries assistance funds to ensure it is public and transparent,” say Leigh Habegger and Robert Dooley, the executive director and president respectively of the Seafood Harvesters of America (SHA), in a two-page letter sent Thursday to Wilbur Ross, the secretary of Commerce.
“We also request the funds be expeditiously disbursed to the eligible recipients once this process is developed,” the letter continues.
The trade association represents as many as 18 other groups, such as the Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers, North Pacific Fisheries Association, Maine Coast Fishermen's Association and Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance, that collectively represent thousands of fishermen from Alaska to Maine.
Much of the media attention leading up to the passage of the combined $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act was in relation to the checks of $1,200 being shared with people making up to $75,000 a year, while providing $350 billion in assistance to small businesses and $500bn to corporations.
Much of the focus since has been on how many of the businesses that’ve benefitted from the relief are actually large and, in some cases, even publicly traded.
Of most interest to the seafood industry, however, is a provision, under sect. 12005 of the law, that would give the Commerce Department authority to provide direct financial relief from a pot of $300m to “fishery participants” who have experienced economic revenue losses as a result of the pandemic.
The losses must be “greater than 35% as compared to the prior five-year average revenue, or any negative impacts to subsistence, cultural or ceremonial fisheries”, the law clarified. Meanwhile, fishery participants are defined to include tribes, persons, fishing communities, aquaculture businesses not otherwise eligible under other provisions or other fishery-related businesses.
The measure was expected to award the funds on a rolling basis and within a fishing season to “ensure rapid delivery”. Also, up to 2% of the amount could be used for administration and oversight activities.
Much more than that is not known as NOAA has yet to release any instructions on how it will divvy up the funds.
“The industry has not, thus far, been made aware of any process NOAA is considering to allocate these funds despite repeated requests from industry stakeholders and members of Congress,” the SHA said in its letter. “We are concerned this lack of transparency will result in a process that does not adequately account for fishermen’s economic needs.”
In a telephone interview earlier this week, Habegger told Undercurrent that there's been almost no back and forth by NOAA with the industry over how it's going to distribute the relief funds. The industry wants to know who in the agency is leading the effort, the process that will be used and how fund amounts might be calculated, leaving many to worry about a less than equitable distribution in what is sure to be a competition.
"They have shed no light on what they are even thinking," she said.
Undercurrent News contacted the NOAA press office on Wednesday to ask for a progress report, including a general timeframe for when a plan might be released. A NOAA communications officer responded by sharing the following statement, which was previously published on the website of NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS):
“NOAA Fisheries understands the urgent need for these funds, and our overriding goal is to distribute the assistance as quickly as possible,” the statement reads. “To that end, we are working daily with the Department [of Commerce] and our federal partners to finalize a process to expedite the distribution of Sec. 12005 funds, consistent with the direction provided by Congress. We will post details about the process for stakeholders and partners here."
The website adds that other provisions in the CARES Act will “help NOAA maintain continuity of operations and support the continued success of our nation’s fisheries”. It mentions another $20m that’s been identified as enabling NOAA to provide “life-saving services and for keeping our workforce safe”.
Pacific Seafood-led effort continues, too
More than 830,000 Americans were reported to have been infected by COVID 19 on Wednesday night, 47,000 of whom have died. Nearly a third of the US economy is reported to be frozen.
But it’s the closure of restaurants in particular that has cost the seafood industry dearly, as the SHA letter notes that about 70% of the money spent on seafood in the US in 2017 was done so at foodservice establishments and through catering services.
“As these businesses have shuttered, our fishing businesses have also suffered. The US is a global leader in sustainable seafood, but without an immediate lifeline, we risk losing the fishermen, the fishing businesses, and the associated working waterfronts that have made our commercial fishing industry the gold standard,” the SHA letter continued.
The letter is copied to Chris Oliver, the assistant administrator for Fisheries at NOAA, and Paul Doremus, the deputy assistant administrator for operations.
In fact, the $300m provided for by the CARES Act isn't going to be nearly enough to save the entire US seafood industry, Habegger told Undercurrent.
"We are very grateful for that money and a lot of folks in the industry think it is a really great start, but the $300m covers commercial fishermen, charter fishermen, tribes, fishing communities, aquaculture businesses, processors, fishing related businesses that have incurred a direct or indirect impact as a result of the coronavirus. I think each of these groups could alone make a case for why $300m could go just to their sector," she said.
That's why several efforts continue within the seafood industry to secure a bigger relief package, potentially in another stimulus bill, including one being led by Pacific Seafood Group, a large-scale supplier based in Clackamas, Oregon.
Pacific is reported to be building on its March 24 letter sent to the White House and both chambers of Congress. It was supported by 180 seafood harvesters, processors, trade associations and others and requested a combined $4bn in relief, including a commitment to buy $2.5bn worth of seafood.
The letter was signed by such prominent seafood industry names as Joe Bundrant, the CEO of Trident Seafoods, Roger O'Brien, the president and CEO of Santa Monica Seafood, Sean O'Scannlain, the president and CEO of Fortune International, Stephanie Quah, managing director of Cargill, and John Connelly, the National Fisheries Institute's president.
Also among the nine actions requested by the letter: essential status for seafood-related workers; grant or stimulus money to cover losses; loan or utility payment relief or suspension; the government purchase of seafood; payroll and unemployment assistance; the promotion of American seafood abroad; the expediting of visas for temporary workers; federal fisheries disaster relief; help in providing transportation assistance for seafood exports; and the reduction of unnecessary regulatory burdens that might prevent sustainable harvesting.
Crawfish and catfish farmers seek USDA help
In addition to the effort to get NOAA to reveal how it plans to spend the $300m provided by the CARES Act and secure more funding in a future stimulus bill, several aquaculture industry groups have set their sights on some $16bn in relief to be provided to agriculture farmers by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).
In a posting made April 17 on its website, the USDA describes several efforts underway to help America's farmers, including the use of funds provided by CARES. It said it plans to purchase "$3bn in fresh produce, dairy, and meat" beginning with the "procurement of an estimated $100m per month in fresh fruits and vegetables, $100m per month in a variety of dairy products, and $100m per month in meat products".
The site doesn't mention seafood, and USDA communications officers have yet to return calls from Undercurrent.
Regardless, in a letter sent April 8 to agriculture secretary Sonny Perdue, all eight members of Louisiana’s US delegation ask for assistance to be provided to crawfish farmers in their state. The US crawfish industry, which provides more than $305m annually to Louisiana’s economy, has seen its prices plummet by more than $1.00 per pound and is facing an average loss of more than $400 per acre, the letter advises.
“Taken together, this amounts to a 60% loss in market value during the peak of crawfish season,” says the letter, though the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation, the state’s Department of Agriculture and Forestry and the Louisiana State University AgCenter are working to further quantify the impact of the losses.
“Without assistance, the short-term losses caused directly by the coronavirus could lead to permanent loss of markets and impact the long-term health of the industry,” they said.
The letter is signed by Republican senators Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy, as well as Republican House members Steve Scalise, Ralph Abraham, Garret Graves, Clay Higgins and Mike Johnson and Democratic House member Cedric Richmon.
Senators John Boozman and Tom Cotton, both Arkansas Republicans, and Cindy Hyde-Smith and Roger Wicker, both Mississippi Republicans, have similarly written to Perdue in hopes that he will use some of the funds provided by the CARES Act to assist farm-raised fish producers and processors.
The four lawmakers note how US catfish growers, which accounted for $379m in revenue in 2019, rely on foodservice establishments to account for about 60% of their sales.
They suggest USDA use its section 32 authority to “purchase excess inventory at processing establishments to encourage the domestic consumption of farm-raised fish products while stabilizing market prices”, a reference to the law employed by the department buy food for distribution in school lunches and other federal sustenance programs.
A similar effort is underway on the East Coast, Sebastian Belle, executive director of the Maine Aquaculture Association, told Undercurrent on Thursday. His state has 190 commercial farms, including those producing finfish, shellfish and seaweed, and they account for $100m in annual farmgate revenue while providing 700 jobs.
Aquaculture has grown 20% in the state over the last five years, and another roughly 280 "pre-revenue" aquaculture businesses are in the process of coming online.
Right now is a crucial time for many in the New England aquaculture industry who are cash-strapped as they are both harvesting and planting seed, and the coming summer is when they would normally see an uptick in seafood consumption, he said.
"Our position has been that there is no point in singling out a species or commodity group," he said. We are all fundamentally farms."