March 19, 2015 — The state, by the end of this week, expects to have paid slightly more than 10 percent of the 141 Massachusetts-based commercial fishing permit holders eligible for the second round of federal fishery disaster assistance.
That pool of permit holders, which represent both state and federal permits, will share about $3.8 million from the $8.3 million in the second phase of funding for Bay State fishermen and fishing communities from the federal fishery disaster assistance.
The flat-rate payments are tiered, ranging from $9,750 to $32,500 per permit, depending on whether the permit holder received assistance for a separate permitted fishing business in the first phase of funding.
Any permit holder who received funds in the first phase — which last year paid $32,500 per permit to more than 200 eligible Massachusetts-based permit holders — will have their second-phase payment cut in half.
Read the full story from the Gloucester Daily Times