September 17, 2013 — BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick has taken a step toward making his state’s battered fishing industry eligible for federal disaster assistance from the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Earlier this month, Patrick officially certified that Massachusetts fishermen who chase bottom-dwelling groundfish had suffered ‘‘substantial economic injury.’’
He cited the poor health of key fish stocks and this year’s devastating cuts in the allowed catch.
Patrick wrote further in a letter to the SBA that the industry has been so economically damaged, that federal subsidized loans are essential.
Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Boston Globe