Massachusetts expects to distribute federal fishing aid checks by September
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Gloucester Daily Times] By Sean Horgan - August 14, 2014 -
They’ve waited more than a half-year for the help to arrive, as if on the wrong end of a siege. From the wintry evening in January when Congress appropriated the $75 million in fishery disaster assistance, through the spring and on into the final weeks of summer, fishermen in Gloucester and throughout Massachusetts waited for the money to arrive.
Their wait is nearly over.
NOAA announced Wednesday that it has approved the Massachusetts grant application necessary for the state to receive the $6.3 million in direct federal financial assistance, which the state now will parcel out to the estimated 200 eligible Bay State permit holders in checks for $32,500 per permit.
The real task now, according to Commissioner Griffin, is to get all of the eligible permit holders to register with the state as vendors so they can get paid. To date, only eight of the estimated 200 eligible permit holders have completed and submitted the necessary form, she said.
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