April 23, 2020 — The historic addition of unemployment benefits for self-employed and contract workers — fishermen included — was a necessary change in the way we support our critical infrastructure as we peer down the barrel of this pandemic.
Now, almost a month out from the passing of the $2.2 trillion stimulus package, most fishermen are finding that they may still be left out in the cold.
The Paycheck Protection Program was funded with $349 billion slated to secure jobs for millions of Americans working for small businesses.
One of the hangups with this program was that it was never set up to allow applications with 1099s — the tax form most fishermen use. Even a boat owner with regular, year-round crew couldn’t get coverage for the crew the way the program was set up.
To top it off, most of the banks that are approved to process these types of federal loans and applications are big banks. They deal primarily with bigger businesses, the kinds with lawyers on retainer and accountants and payroll managers.