July 14, 2014 — But for all the questions and issues that may surface tonight at Gloucester’s state Division of Marine Fisheries Office tonight, priority No. 1 — perhaps, priorities 1 through 5 — must be to accelerate the delivery of this direct aid to fishermen who should not have to wait another week, let along another three months as outlined, for their own projected $32,463 as calculated by state and federal officials.
The 6 p.m. meeting, set for DMF’s Annisquam River station at 30 Emerson Ave., is expected to include Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Mary Griffin, DMF Director Paul Diodati, DMF Deputy Director David Pierce and DMF policy analyst Melanie Griffin. And they should all be preparing answers as to why even the direct aid to fishermen may not come through until October, as Mary Griffin had indicated in May.
To be fair, she outlined a context for the delay. While Griffin’s department is responsible for distributing the funds to fishermen and businesses within Massachusetts, she suggested there are logistics that must be addressed.
“NOAA is going to have to transfer the funds to Massachusetts, and we’re going to have to get the funds to the fishermen who meet the criteria,” Griffin said.
OK. But frankly, if NOAA has not transferred the direct aid money to the state by now that’s a downright failure on the part of the feds to recognize the urgency of this need. And while there may certainly be lingering questions as to which fishermen or businesses may or may not qualify, most of those questions seemed to have been answered two months, when the very specific number of permit holders due the direct aid were already determined — along with the $32,463 each is pegged to receive.
Read the full editorial at the Gloucester Daily Times