February 6, 2014 — The $75 million in fisheries disaster relief approved by the federal government has been good news for the fishing industry as a whole, but South Shore fishermen are uncertain as to how much relief they will receive.
“The good news was the overall package, the things uncertain to me is how much would be for Massachusetts itself,” said state Representative Jim Cantwell, a Marshfield Democrat who also represents Scituate.
Competition will be high for the funding, which was approved in mid-January as part of a $1.012 trillion spending bill. According to staff in US Senator Elizabeth Warren’s office, the money will support those impacted by six fishing disasters declared around the country.
In New England, the 2012 groundfish fishery failure affected fishermen from Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey. The disaster was declared due to low fishing stocks key to the industry.
Funds will be distributed in the form of block grants to each state, and distributed based on need. Government agencies from each affected area were compiling loss totals in the interim.
Whatever Massachusetts eventually receives, Cantwell hoped Scituate and Marshfield fishermen would see some relief.
Read the full story at The Boston Globe