May 17, 2021 — Last year’s $300 million in Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) funding was intended to help fishermen, processors and tribes as the COVID-19 virus disrupted markets, displaced workers and generally created havoc around the globe.
But some of that funding has yet to be distributed, even as a second round of federal funding is pending. An additional $255 million in fisheries assistance funding was provided by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, and announced by NMFS in late March.