July 16, 2014 — But it was troubling — no, make that downright insulting — to hear DMF Director Paul Diodati and state Fish and Game Commissioner Mary B. Griffin essentially reiterate that the roughly $11 million also targeted as direct aid to Gloucester’s and other Massachusetts fishermen is still not expected to be dispersed until October.
Why? According to Diodati, the state must still file a grant application to the federal government to receive the grant funds, and he’s projecting that the federal government will need at least 60 days to process those applications before any money starts making its way to the state.
Hey, it’s been nearly five months since the February NOAA announcement that the Northeast groundfishery would be reeling in $33 million of a $75 national fisheries disaster aid package. It’s been six weeks since NOAA further announced specifics of the fishermen’s direct aid package — with 336 pre-identified permit holders calculated to receive a very specific $32,463 apiece.
Yet, amid all that advancement, the state still has not even applied to the federal government for the grant to set the dispersal wheels in motion? Yikes!
Read the full editorial at the Gloucester Daily Times