Fishermen Facing "Economic Disaster" Request $5.4 Billion in Emergency Funds

COVID-19 Alert

Fishermen Facing "Economic Disaster" Request $5.4 Billion in Emergency Funds

1.5M U.S. Jobs Threatened as Seafood Sales Plummet By Up to 95%; Commercial Fishermen Struggle to Access Limited Aid

Washington, D.C. — The Fishing Communities Coalition (FCC) is requesting $5.4 billion in emergency relief funds — including $2.7 billion in direct assistance — to offset the catastrophic economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the commercial fishing and seafood industries due to restaurant closures and supply chain disruptions.

In a letter to the leadership of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, FCC members representing over 1,000 fishermen from Maine to Alaska wrote that while the $300 million included in the CARES Act is a “meaningful start,” it “is not nearly enough to begin to cover the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic that is currently devastating America’s commercial fishermen and fishing communities” which support over 1.5 million U.S. jobs.

Addressing a House Natural Resources Committee virtual roundtable this week, Ben Martens, Executive Director of the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, an FCC member, laid out in stark terms the unprecedented challenges facing fishing communities in Maine and others like them across the country:

“Seventy to eighty percent of seafood in the United States is eaten at restaurants. When the restaurants closed, buyers told fishermen not to fish, prices fell dramatically — close to seventy percent for many species — and processors had to unload product at losses,” said Martens. “Many fishermen have tried to participate in other stimulus programs, like the Paycheck Protection Program and unfortunately unemployment, but these were not built to support the small-scale, owner-operated businesses we have along the coast. Our fishermen need help now, they will need help next month, and the following month, and they cannot remain left behind any longer.”

America’s fishing economies have incurred massive damages due to COVID-19, including:

• Up to 95% decline in sales. Fishermen represented by the FCC have suffered sales declines as high as 95% this year due primarily to restaurant closures.

• In Alaska, fish prices have dropped by 60%. Less than half the usual fish deliveries from small boats have crossed Alaska docks, and many fish buyers and processors have remained closed throughout the spring.

• In New England, fish prices dropped close to 70% when restaurants closed, leading buyers to tell fishermen not to fish and processors unloading product at a loss. 

• In the Gulf of Mexico, commercial fishing businesses are down between 25% to 75%, while many smaller fishing businesses are still tied to the docks.

• California fishermen are struggling with reduced markets and historically low prices.

These economic losses will continue well into the future, posing an existential threat to the U.S. commercial fishing industry.

The FCC noted in its letter that the recent passage of the CARES Act served to magnify the disparity between the level of support the U.S. government provides agriculture relative to the seafood industry. The agriculture sector has received tens of billions of dollars of direct relief during this pandemic, and even more through USDA programs that are currently inaccessible to the commercial fishing industry. While the FCC is supportive of the much-needed relief farmers and ranchers are receiving, commercial fishermen are facing similarly severe challenges and losses, further highlighting that the relief included in the CARES Act simply isn't enough.

The FCC’s request of $5.4 billion to be included in upcoming relief funds for commercial fishermen is equal to the dockside value of seafood landings in 2017, the most recent report by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The request includes $2.7 billion of direct funding for the commercial fishing industry to provide immediate relief to fishery participants under the terms of section 12005 of the CARES Act, and $2.7 billion for existing programs directed to commercial fishermen under the purview of the USDA, DOT, SBA and other agencies. 

In addition, the FCC’s letter requests that Congress ensure seafood harvesters are specifically included via language in existing and ongoing disaster relief efforts like the Paycheck Protection Program and have access to COVID-19 testing, personal protective equipment, and free medical care arising from the pandemic.