August 24, 2013 — Like their customers, most charter fishing boat captains on Long Island have no expectations of netting huge payoffs. Their ebbing industry has long struggled with strict regulations and rising gas and bait prices. Sandy gave it another beating. The storm destroyed supplies and curbed customers' spending and caused a total of $58 million in damages to New York's recreational fishing industry.
Charter captains are eligible for Small Business Association loans and as much as $50,000 each of the $20 million Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo allocated from federal grant money this May for the recovery of New York's fishing industry.
Fishing fleet owners applying for their share say the process is painfully bureaucratic and the funds are slow to arrive. While state officials say they are moving as quickly as possible, many charter captains are piloting this season without government aid, driven more by a dogged affinity for their avocation than a sense of practicality.
"We have a better chance of seeing God than seeing that money," said captain Mike Wasserman, whose boat docks in Freeport, a South Shore community hammered by Sandy.
Many fishing fleet owners have applied — with no result, they say — for grant money provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and distributed through New York State Homes and Community Renewal.
According to a state government official, applicants will receive assistance within a two-year disbursement period, on a timeline that accommodates their individual circumstances and the varying scope of their needs.
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