January 15, 2014 — The $75 million in federal disaster funds for fishermen and fishing communities won’t be a done deal until it passes both houses of Congress, but stakeholders in the ravaged industry already are starting to take positions on how the money should be distributed.
”The most important thing is to get the money to the right people, the people who have been affected by what’s happened to the fishing industry,” said longtime Gloucester fisherman Joe Orlando. “To me, that’s the boat owners and the crews.
”I’m not talking about grants or low-interest loans, I’m talking about cash,” he added. “That’s what’s going to keep people in it right now.”
Orlando’s sentiment is a popular refrain among the city groundfishermen and fishing advocates. It is driven by the widespread and critical financial needs of those who have somehow managed to hang on in the decimated industry, but also by the deep-seated distrust of the Department of Commerce and its agent for all things related to fishing, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Commerce will receive the appropriation and will be charged with funneling the aid to the states.
The bill that includes the $75 million, which survived the House appropriation gauntlet after being whittled down from the $150 million in the Senate appropriation, does not include any specific mechanism for the distribution of funds.
U.S. Rep. John Tierney, however, said the funds will flow from Commerce to state agencies that will be responsible for parceling out the money to local communities. In Massachusetts, he said, that is expected to be the state Division of Marine Fisheries.
Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times