August 16, 2014 — Certain permit holders will be eligible for $32,500 in fisheries disaster relief in the coming months. But some in the industry say the amount is a patch over a gaping wound.
"I would be happy if they gave me back more fish. I don't want the money," said Linda McCann, sector manager for Northeast Fishery sectors 7 and 8.
Even so, "$32,500 is not even a Band-Aid on this big gash that they have. It's a slap in the face," she said.
Disaster relief is expected to go to the holders of 200 permits in Massachusetts, about a quarter of whom are in Southeastern Massachusetts.
With a fisheries disaster declared in 2012, Congress allocated $32.8 million this year to provide relief to fishermen in the Northeast through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
In the first of three allocations, Massachusetts got $6.3 million to divvy up among ground fishermen, according to the state Department of Fish and Game.
The Northeast Fishery Sectors became active in 2010, a controversial system that in practice requires permit holders to group together to fish their collective allocation under federal guidelines. McCann, who is based in New Bedford, said Sector 7 consists of 22 permits, with six permit holders who will qualify for the relief. Sector 8 consists of 20 permits, seven of which will qualify.
Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times