State officials are working on how to distribute more than $28 million in federal fishing aid intended to help fishermen and fishing businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The funding represents Massachusetts’ share of a $300 million pot of federal money being distributed nationwide.
On Thursday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Department of Commerce announced they were releasing the aid, part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) to fishermen and fishing businesses affected by COVID-19.
Massachusetts was third on the list of 31 U.S. states, territories and federally recognized tribes with more than $28 million in funding. The maximum amount of aid per state was capped at $50 million and the minimum was set at $1 million.
The amounts allocated to each state were determined by using total annual revenue from commercial fishing, charter fishing, aquaculture and processor/seafood sectors of coastal states, NOAA said.
“The $28 million in aid for Massachusetts should only be the beginning,” Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., said in a statement Friday.
Markey cited New Bedford’s position as the nation’s top port in terms of value of catch, the state’s $647.2 million in landings in 2018, 87,000 jobs in commercial fishing and processing, and 10,000 in recreational fishing as reasons why the state will need more money to be made whole.
Markey and others in the state’s congressional delegation had complained to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross that the agency had taken six weeks to release the money.
According to the NOAA Fisheries webpage, the money will go to the state Division of Marine Fisheries for distribution. Direct payments are part of the package, the agency said.
NOAA spokewoman Allison Ferreira said it would be up to the state to determine the distribution.
The money benefits commercial fishing businesses, charter and for-hire fishing businesses, aquaculture operations, processors and others. NOAA said it would not include tangential businesses such as vessel repair, restaurants, bait and tackle shops or seafood retailers.
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