March 25, 2020 — Massachusetts Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey are urging the U.S. Senate leadership to include the commercial fishing and seafood industries in any economic relief packages passed by Congress or face potential bankruptcy at the docks.
Warren and Markey, working with Alaska Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, wrote in a letter to the Senate leadership that the spreading novel coronavirus has robbed fishermen of their most dependable markets and left all quadrants of the seafood industry struggling to keep businesses afloat.
“Some fisheries are completely shut down because there is no market for their fish,” the senators said in their letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. “Seafood processors are struggling because closed restaurants are no longer buying fresh products.”
“Large export markets in virus-affected countries like China have also been disrupted. Additionally, many fishermen are not eligible for unemployment benefits because they are self-employed,” the senators said.
The letter traces the dire economic chain reaction the spreading virus has foisted on the fishing and seafood industries, from harvesters and processors to retailers and wholesalers.