How the White House and Congress Can Act to Save America’s Fishing Economies
COVID-19: Fishing Communities in Crisis
How the White House and Congress Can Act to Save America’s Fishing Economies
Washington, DC – In the wake of President Trump’s roundtable meeting with commercial fishermen in Maine Friday, the Fishing Communities Coalition (FCC) has outlined specific and immediate steps policymakers in Washington can take to address the health and economic crisis facing America’s fishing communities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fishermen represented by the FCC have suffered sales declines as high as 95% this year due primarily to restaurant closures.
“President Trump’s roundtable meeting with commercial fishermen in Maine Friday came at a critical moment for an industry in urgent need of assistance to offset the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Ben Martens, Executive Director of the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, an FCC member. “Unfortunately, opening up a national monument to additional fishing when seafood markets domestically and internationally have collapsed won't solve the very real and immediate needs of our nation's fishermen."
The FCC, an association of community-based, small-boat commercial fishing groups, representing more than 1,000 fishermen from Maine to Alaska, is urging the Trump Administration and Congress to put politics aside and take the following actions while ensuring the protection of the marine ecosystems that are essential to America’s sustainable fishing future:
Provide $5.4 billion in upcoming relief funds for commercial fishermen, equal to the dockside value of seafood landings in 2017, the most recently reported year by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
$2.7 billion of this amount for direct funding for the commercial fishing industry to provide immediate relief to fishery participants under the terms of section 12005 of the CARES Act.
Provide the remaining $2.7 billion to existing programs directed to commercial fishermen, including, but not limited to:
Department of Agriculture (USDA) procurement and producer initiatives
Department of Transportation infrastructure and capacity programs
Small Business Administration (SBA) disaster support and loan programs
Expand USDA and SBA authorities and responsibilities to include seafood harvesters in programs that have historically left fishermen out, including USDA commodity purchasing programs, the USDA’s Coronavirus Food Assistance Program—which received significant funding in the CARES Act and is a logical place for seafood inclusion.
Ensure seafood harvesters are specifically included via language in existing and ongoing disaster relief efforts such as the Paycheck Protection Program and have access to COVID-19 testing, personal protective equipment, and free medical care arising from the pandemic.