July 8, 2020 — Mayor Kirk Caldwell on Tuesday announced a new “fish to dish” program to help Hawaii’s ailing fishing industry.
“Our fishing community is feeling the economic strain of this pandemic like so many other industries on Oahu,” said Caldwell in a statement. “Hawaii’s longline fisherman provide a valuable source of food to our island, and fortifying this industry not only provides our community with some of the freshest fish in the world, but sets up a sustainable network to solidify our food security ahead of future disasters.”
Hawaii Longline Association Executive Director Eric Kingma said that when the market crashed in March, wholesale companies laid off about half of their employees, and some boats have remained idle for several weeks.
Overall, the direct and indirect economic impacts amount to about $1 billion and have affected about 9,000 jobs, he said, so this program comes at a critical time for the industry.