April 2, 2021 — Elements of the Massachusetts seafood industry are set to receive another $23.6 million as part of continuing federal and state efforts to mitigate the detrimental impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Massachusetts allocation represents 9% of the total $255 million in new federal fisheries assistance funding and supplements the $28 million allocated to the Bay State fishing industry from the CARES Act in March 2020.
“It’s basically the same as the first round,” said Dan McKiernan, director of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries. “We’re being urged to get the money out as quickly as possible.”
McKiernan expects the process for distributing the money to be almost identical that in 2020 when the state distributed the $28 million from the CARES Act appropriation.
As in 2020, the Massachusetts allocation is the third largest among all states. Only Alaska and Washington, at $40 million each, received more.
Elsewhere in New England, Maine was fifth among all states with a $17.14 million allocation. New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Connecticut each received $3 million.